Sonic Unbound, opening saga
by Kojiokida2
Summary: NOT THE WHOLE STORY! just the opening 4 chapters. The tale of a new world, the Sonic Unbound continuality. A retelling of Sonic right from the start, incorporating both fanfiction and comics. Sonic and Shadow set foot both on the world stage and do battle
1. Chapter 1

Sonic Unbound: Opening Saga

The name, Doctor Ivo Robotnik was rarely used when people spoke of him. He known just as the Robotnik, or 'the Doctor' and the name always spoke with trepidation.

The satellites fell first. Nobody could tell why at first. But when a volley of laser fire was recovered firing at the government's military satellite surveillance it became all too obvious.

The military of the Federation had no time to react. Their bases and positions, fortified through they were, were hit hard and fast. Entire installations destroyed without any warning and entire regiments crushed.

Sketchy frontline photo's confirmed their fears about what they were now fighting. The emerging empire was using soldiers unlike anything ever seen before.

They were not men but machines, programmed devices of war. They were codenamed; Automatons. Their bodies were huge and heavily armoured; their weapons backed by technology the likes of which the Federation had never seen. These machines wiped anyone who stood before them out.

They knew no pity, no compassion; their digital brains containing nothing but advance battle strategy and tactics. They killed everything in their path. Soldiers, civilians, women and children.

Mercy, apparently, was a foreign concept for them.

Outmatched by technology and sneer numbers, the military pulled back mile after mile until the new Empire had taken control of the entire Southern continent of Maya. Attempting to box them in, the machines then landed on the far eastern continent and began marching west.

This new Empire seemed unstoppable.

Panicking, the Federation politicians granted authorisation for the use of Nuclear weaponry.

The robots were stopped but the price was more catastrophic than their enemy's attacks.

Atomic missiles rained down over entire nations and over eight million people died instantly and many more in the radioactive aftermath. The map of the world was drastically re-drawn as the event known from then on as Ragnarok passed into history.

The fall-out from the atomic barrage fell for over five years across the globe and the radiation cleansed entire regions of plant and animal life. Even the robots could not operate in such hostile conditions and the advance of the despotic scientist's new forming empire was halted.

Three atomically created badlands lanced down like claw marks across the world, scaring the planet so much that the devastation could be seen from space.

At the price of half the world and the scorn of the survivors, the Federation government had postponed its fate.

That is, until the Doctor played his next hand.

The militaries attempts to salvage what force they could were hit hard by enemy attacks that came out of nowhere, but their attackers were not Automatons.

The assaults came so fast it was impossible to tell what was tearing into them. Entire elite troops were ripped apart in seconds, tanks and experimental Mech's reduced to burning scrap and entire bases wiped off the map. No survivors were left to tell the tale.

Desperate to find out what was causing this and how to stop it, the Federation founded an independent rapid response organisation. It was called the Guardians of the United Nations; or G.U.N for short.

This proved to be a mistake that eventually lead to the collapse of any recognisable democratic government.

Gun's commander, Jericho Mandarin; a man renowned for having a heart of stone in battle; staged a coup and overthrew what remained of the Federation political system and seized control of Central City. Believing that they could not be trusted to not repeat Ragnarok, Mandarin set up a military industrial complex to replace them and counter the attacks.

The government became known from then on as the G.U.N Federation.

With this strong support and power base, Mandarin quickly set up fortifying his territory for when the Doctor's forces would strike.

Times for the next five years were troubling for all. G.U.N proved abusive of their new political power and any protest against them; whether it was peaceful or violent was put down hard.

Mandarin however was successful in one thing.

His latest developed spy Mech's managed to catch sight of the Robotnik's agent and soon the image was being passed around every city in Gun territory.

It was a hedgehog.

Over a decade has passed since Ragnarok had decimated the world.

--

_Western Imperial front, 2;00 AM western standard time:_

Crossing the badlands conventionally was quite literally impossible. The radiation was simply far too high a level for creatures to survive without developing life threatening cancer or dying outright. Even electronics shorted out before they had moved more than a few feet in.

Several other routes lay to the Robotnik controlled territory on the continent. The most obvious one was through the Mountain spine to the north, but the empire had fortified their position there to an almost impassable defensive barrier.

So instead, they had to go straight through.

No plane got near the imperial lines without being shot down in an instant. Which was why for the past year and a half, scientist and technicians of the G.U.N military had been labouring to complete this new aircraft.

Flying low over the badlands would poison the pilots within moments, so the aircraft flew high into the path of the imperial radar. Designed to be completely radar invisible, it carried on without being intercepted by the Robotnik's unmanned fighters. This espionage plane had been named Shadowfox, because of this.

It had no weapons. The slightest armament would be picked up in an instant and the turrets armed at the frontline were capable of shooting from this distance. This was a dropping vehicle, used for speedy extraction and deliver missions.

"ETA; 5-minutes." The pilot announced keeping his gaze locked forward, the faint black outline of the armed defences the empire had placed on the front moving up over the horizon. The plane had descended from its altitude but was maintaining a height of 35 thousand feet.

"Radiation levels are minimal. The Doctor has radiation sponges soaking it up to make his machines work here. The lead lining in the suit should keep whatever gamma rays are left until you're beyond the defence line." The man in the back added, handing their drop agent a leather pouch that she clipped around her thin waist.

"I noticed the word 'should'." The agent replied, narrowing her emerald green eyes and managing a small smile.

"Well don't take your sweet time, let's put it that way." The human replied matching the smile. "We'll guide you beyond the defences. Once you're in, you're on your own. We'll be back for a pick up in three days. If your not there, we leave without you and we'll not be coming back. Do you understand?" The furry nodded and pulled the glove over her fingers, stretching her leathery wings out either side.

"Still don't still why they're sending a 'furry' to do the job of a 'norm'." The tactical operations office, a human woman with short black hair asked; fitting an electronic earpiece across her cheek, the radio speaker in her ear and a microphone cord over her mouth.

"Offering to take my place?" Their agent asked, sliding a pair of green tinted sunglasses down over her eyes. The human said nothing. She was not stupid. "Thought so." Zipping up the jacket over her breasts, their agent was finally fully equipped. The word; 'Rouge' was printed in thin metallic letters on the collar.

Their agent was a bat, her fur snow white with curls down the back of her head. Her ears were large and erect, giving her the illusion of being taller than she really was. Rouge was one of Gun's elite covert operatives. Top of her class and before the imperial rise, Rouge had been a world class thief; using training she acquired from the agency to help her steal various precious gemstones from museums and bank vaults worldwide.

Catching her at the height the Robotnik's success, G.U.N offered the wayward agent a choice. Come back to work for them or a hefty prison sentence.

Since orange suits were out of fashion, Rouge choice the work option.

"We'll be passing over the ground batteries in two minutes." The pilot announced. By now the horrifying sight of the imperial defences was now in clear sight. A stretching defence of row upon row of anti-aircraft turrets behind a wall of concrete and barbed wire. Behind these were roads leading back to the areas less affected by radiation, where complex electronics could be operated. Here lay factories and armament depots. Heavy defended facilities used by the imperial's robotic military force were going up across the front one after the other. This was the so called 'Great Barrier', the impassable defensive line G.U.N strategists had been trying to pick holes in for years now.

Rouge could see her target from here, a massive installation just beyond the factories. It was a metallic crater that dipped down into the ground several hundred feet; a steep wall surrounding the perimeter with a control tower on the far side.

"Ok Rouge this is your stop." Her senior officer on the mission began, pulling up the door open; a howl wind sudden surging through the interior of the plane. "Move it, NOW!" Tensing her legs, Rouge flung herself out of the plane and into mid air.

Almost an instant later, the automated defences caught first hand visual sight of the spy plane. Large barrels on the turrets rotated around and the air was instantly thick with lasers, streams of red light that coursed like a river up to the sky. The plane pulled back instantly but Rouge coursed on. Speed was her ally, using the momentum gravity was giving her to go faster and faster

It wasn't until she was a single hundred feet from the ground that she opened her wings and the air drag sent her coursing almost horizontally along the ground through the giant turrets, a small target they either ignored or couldn't see. Either way was fine with Rouge.

Landing between two large missile launcher platforms, the bat flipped the device attached like an earring on. The glasses over her eyes lit up and data began scowling down before her like a computer read out.

With satellite surveillance down, hi-tech ways of keeping an eye on the empire were left useless and thus far sending in agents had been impossible. They had tried for years to find an agent good enough to send in and the only one even remotely qualified was Rouge. This was the first time they had ever attempted to send an operative in.

"So no pressure then." The bat began with a sigh as the tactical operations officer fed the data into her unit while the plane was still in range.

While it was no secret Robotnik was preparing for war, through various espionage sources, they learned that the construction yard ahead had been shipped extensive resources such are precious ore, fuel, oil and other various packages of minerals used in construction from the mils and mines on the west coast. Rouge's mission was to find out what they were building with those resources and acquire as much intelligence data on it as possible.

Her ears twitched as the sound of large heavy footsteps reached her. A large door in the side of the missile launcher foundation slid open with a shunting sound and marching out one by one came the Robotnik's metal soldiers, the Automatons. They were larger and bulkier than any human, with segmented limbs and form fitting armoured plates. The heads like a knight's helm with a single red eye sitting behind the visor.

In single file they marched out, a round thick anti-ballistic shield attached to their left shoulder and a long range rifle to the other, the handle with the trigger perfectly positioned to be at arms length. Almost completely dark blue, almost a grey; they made their way out the door and down through the space between the giant turrets.

They didn't see the bat, expertly merged into the dark shadows. In fact, her stealth had little to do with how she used the darkness. Robotic monsters such as these hunted using infrared signatures and heat detector. There was where her unique abilities as a bat came in.

Being naturally nocturnal animals, her kind had a naturally low body temperature and backed up against these turrets, her own heat signature was masked by the heat generated from the discharging weapons.

Knowing better than to linger, Rouge carried on past the field of defences. They ended abruptly and she found herself standing at the top of a long road leading down an artificial row of hills the turrets had been built upon. For the first time, she beheld the territory of the Robotnik.

The scared ground that marked the badlands carried on for some distance; cracked dull brown earth without a single piece of vegetation. This was the area the empire was using for real-estate; nothing to get in the way and far enough away from the lethal radiation to construct working electronic devices.

A loud whirring hit her ears and instinctively she took cover back into the safety of the defence turret's shadow. A moment later, several round machines shaped like round balls flew overhead. A camera lens sat behind a thick metal and glass shield. The eyes of the Robotnik they were known as, thousands of espionage robots built for the soul purpose of giving the empire ways to study their captured territories all at once. If so much as one saw her here, she was as good as dead.

She waited until the collection of orbs had passed before she stepped carefully back into the fading light. She did not want to linger here any longer than she had to, the radiation was lethal despite the sponges the empire was using to soak up the stuff and the lead lined suit she was wearing.

The mission was simple. Find the data, retrieve it, get out and lie low for three days to find out what else she could about imperial operations.

An installation about the size of a small town stood before her; a metropolis of factories and towers of dark metal. Strangely none of the factories or manufacturing plants behind a thick concrete wall had any exhaust funnels or emissions outlets that she could see. For an industrial complex like this there had to be some sort of waste, but try as she might she couldn't see anything that might be a funnel, a fan grating or even a drain.

What sort of infrastructure was the empire running on? What kind of technology produced an industry with no pollution or run off? Gun intelligence on the subject of enemy technology was somewhat vague as no one had returned from imperial territory alive to provide them sufficient data.

This was why her mission was so important. This was the first time anyone, under Gun's payroll that is, had set foot in the Robotnik's domain.

Her target was nearby. As if the factories and depots supporting it were addition facilities, this was the construction plant. A massive ring spanning an entire mile in the ground with armed turrets and watch towers running along the outer edge lay about five hundred yards away. It was a crater, a curved metallic dipping down towards the centre. A large gate with security bots standing rigidly to attention outside it seemed the only way inside.

Robotnik was constructing these across the frontline in preparation for conquest. It seemed intelligence on the subject was right; the Doctor was flexing his military arms preparing for the inevitable confrontation with the rest of the world. She pressed a small button on the side of her glasses and a digital photograph was taken of everything in her line of sight.

Now, she wondered, just what could the Robotnik be working on that would require such a massive transport of resources? Was it some new kind of Mech army?

No, that wouldn't require such an installation. They were working on something _**big**_. But what?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Spreading her wings Rouge soured through the night; flying low to avoid detection. Her sensitive ears could pick up a heart beat at twenty paces away. That was a skill that kept her one step ahead of the cops during her career as a world class thief. But from the metal facilities around her she heard nothing more than the scraps and groans of metal running against metal, robotic arms on an assembly line moving with a wet metallic surge against the oil lubricating their joints.

The entire installation was automated.

Robotic workers toiling tirelessly on assembly lines, forging weapons for whatever insane scheme the Doctor had cooked up. The empire was up to something alright.

The construction depot was over five miles away and trying to cross it alone was out of the question, so instead Rouge waited by the entrance of the factory installation until the next scheduled departure for a supply convoy.

The robot standing guard signalled for the convoy to stop when it came to the gate and it came to a halt just inside. Most of the trucks were transporting stuff in crates and security around them seemed lax. Rouge slipped in the back of one of them while the robot driving the first truck passed an ID code to the guard. The robot stood aside and waved back to the control tower nearby.

The gates slid open with a loud shunting sound, a thin chain link barrier sliding out of the way at the last minute to provide the convoy with entrance. In the back of the truck, Rouge examined the contents of one of the crates.

Inside were dozens of packages boxes, each one contained military hardware and devices packed with straw. Items ranging from engine parts to weapons system electronics. Glancing out the back, Rouge could see she had stowed away on a convoy of considerable size. There had to be at least twenty trucks in this procession and if all of them had these parts in then this was a vital supply run for them.

The road was long and open and here Rouge got an opportunity to stare out across the landscape. Most of it was completely barren, but that had been down to the Nuc's the Federation launched rather than the Robotnik's direct handwork. On what land was stable here and there, the empire had placed factories and supply stops along the roads.

She couldn't here a heartbeat anywhere around her. Everything, the empire's entire defence was completely automated, run by computers and machines. The Robotnik had technology Gun could only dream about.

Breaking into the construction depot directly would not have been a smart thing to do. Security bots would have been on her butt before she knew what hit her and quite frankly, Rouge didn't want to find out what the Doctor did with his captives; or if he even took any.

Soon the convoy began to slow down as they neared the construction depot. It had looked large from a distance and close up she could appreciate its full size. The outer wall and massive and defended by turrets, watch towers and a thick field of barred wire.

Going in though an air duct would be an ideal solution were it not for one thing. There weren't any ventilations shafts. After all, what would a facility run completely by robots want with a ventilation system?

She pressed another button on the side of her glasses and instantly a soft buzzing of static hummed into her ears from the small speaker. It would have sounded like random noise chatter to any other person, but Rouge knew it to be binary language for communications chatter. There was a lot of it passing through the air un-seen and given the facts of her mission, they had to be up to something.

Suddenly the ground began to shake and rumble, a dull roar of the horizon growing louder and louder until finally it was almost deafening. As the truck rounded a corner, Rouge got a glimpse of the road leading further into the Imperial territory. Another convoy was making its way down it towards the construction depot. A full battalion of Automatons marched in legionnaire formation out in front, four hover tanks moving alongside. The sky was thick above it with a dozen choppers, all bearing the empire's insignia; a grinning face of the Robotnik himself.

What caught Rouge's immediate attention was not the security around the convoy, but rather what they were escorting. A massive rocket engine, its shadow nearly reaching her; a rocket engine well over fifty foot long and twenty thick. The rocket was so large it had to be moved on a specially adapted carrier platform on huge tank threads with four cranes either side to pick it up. Rouge crouched staring at it from her hiding place in awe. This put the best jet engines the military came up with to shame. It was so heavy that when the carrier underneath it moved the ground shook.

What on earth was that and what did they need it for?

Her own convoy pulled up to the southern gate of the depot and it paused to receive entry authorization. She sat perfectly still and cooled her body temperature down to a minimum, knowing that the trucks engine could mask her heat signature long enough for her to get away. The gates slid open and the convoy advanced inside.

Once beyond the confines of the security perimeter, Rouge slid silently out the back of the truck and darted across the floor of the supply bay, slipping behind some stacked crates before any of the robots standing guard could notice her. The ground was still shaking and it was getting stronger, meaning that the other convoy would reach the depot any second now. The chaos of trying to take delivery of that rocket would give Rouge the momentary slip she needed.

Suddenly the rumbling stood as the second convoy pulled to a stop, a loud hiss of steam belching into the sky. The buzzing of com-chatter changed pitch and several of the security bots nearby marched off, new orders received remotely. Wasting no time, Rouge darted to the doorway they had been stood guarding. It would not open for anyone but authorized automatons, but with a small amount of remote hacking that could change.

The inside of the depot was the crater that curved down into the ground; leaving most of the building small to accommodate the space and the temperature inside was almost lethally cold. Rouge supposed that was to be expected. If a robot run base didn't need a ventilation system, it certainly didn't need central heating.

One thing it did have that she expected it to lack was adequate lighting. That unfortunately worked to her disadvantage as she did her best work in the shadows. Getting to the working and construction area to see what they were doing first hand was impossible. The security was way too tight for that.

Instead, she made her way through the compound until she found the security centre. There was only one robot there guarding it. She could have taken it out with ease, but that would alert the guards and that was not a good idea. She took a small device out of the pouch around her waist and attached the two wires on the end to her glasses. Using this, she typed a small command into the small keypad and instantly a message was sent to the security bots electronic brain.

As far as it was concerned, it was being ordered to help escort the new thruster inside the construction area. With stood rigidly to attention for a moment before marching forward, out the door to disappear around the corner. With the security room complete unguarded Rouge slipped inside. The security cameras were easily overcome with a few remote commands.

While tricks like this worked against a few vulnerable system; it would not be able to fool them all, not for any long period anyway so Rouge got to work.

"System mainframe… bingo." She muttered to herself, her breath coming out as white mist. Her hands ran expertly over the keypad and the monitor lit up. Hacking her way inside, she found what she was looking for, a detailed schedule for the depot for the last five months.

During that time it taken delivery of uncountable units of ore and oil and several other thrusters besides the one currently being stashed. It was a grand operation in development not only here, but in another base far to the north in Jotunheim. It was a project entitled; 'Restoration development project.'

But there was more to it than that. Something else. Another separate set of reminders had been set, involving Gun itself. Was this the doctor's war plans against the Federation? There was no way she could be that lucky.

No, there was a file here concerning the break in on Prison Island about five years ago. Prison Island was Gun's top military base and someone had broken in. The event had been all over the news. The official report had never found out who had committed the act.

Had the empire something to do with it?

But that wasn't all. There was something here labelled top secret; marked with the empires insignia. Hacking her way into that all Rouge could make out before she was interrupted was a single word; 'Shadow'

A hand clamped down on her shoulder hard with great strength, grabbed her by her jacket and tossing her backwards. Sent flying she smashed into the wall behind her. Glancing up sharply, she staggered back at the sight of a pair of blood red eyes staring down at her.

"The Doctor doesn't take kindly to spies." A voice out of the darkness stated as another hand lashed out and grabbed her around the neck, lifting her high into the air with little effort. She kicked out to get free but the blows barely fazed her aggressor. The creature holding her looked like a furry, but she had never seen one like this. The fur was mostly black, with thick blood red stripes running down a set of quills. All else she was able to make out was the shaggy white fur almost like hair on the chest.

The creature's eyes darted to the label on her clothes and she could feel the smile spread across its lips. "Rouge huh?" The voice was defiantly that of a male. He leaned closer and she could make out the face, but those eyes grabbed her attention. Blood red and filled with malice. "Well, I think the Doctor is going to want to have a word with you."


	2. Chapter 2

One week later; Central City:

Those on the streets didn't even bother to look up as the sound of chopper blades broke through the air. Gun military choppers were in the air every day and even the unusual number of them didn't attract too much attention. It was only when a large military escort convoy came charging down the main street that anyone realised something was up.

"Ain't seen so many before at one time before." A watcher from the crowds in the streets stated as the military convoy lumbered past. Trucks were following the mechs, large sheets of canvas covering what they held from view. Several soldiers armed with AK-47's sat on the top and looked like they might shoot anyone who got too close. "What do ya suppose is goin' on?"

"Who knows and who cares?" Another replied. "Let them do what they like, let's just get outta their way."

"This is Renalds; Mantis Platoon point front. Come in command." The pilot of the cockpit of the large walker Mech began into his radio. Gun combat mech's were based on designs drawn up from salvage operations of the Empire's own robots. Large armoured walkers on legs twenty foot in the air with a pair of missile launchers on either side of the large bulk, a gun turret directly at the front. "Now in pursuit of high speed energy signature, closing ETA; three minutes." The pilot added, glancing down at the screen in front of him. A small red blip on the radar screen hummed loudly. They were close now.

"This is command." The reply came through with a buzz of static. "Deploy the Beetles for Recon. You are currently in a civilian area; do not engage until confirmation of the enemy is received."

"Roger that." The pilot replied, before gesturing to the left of him through the glass surrounding his cockpit. The convoy came to a halt at the top of the hill that stood at the top of the main street. The pilot in the mech opposite nodded and pressed a button in front of him.

A moment later a swarm of round, egg like metallic objects flew past his mech at a high speed; overtaking the convoy and spreading out into the streets like swarms. Beetles were the militaries attempt at copying the Robotnik's espionage technology, but armed the small robots with a rotated machine gun turret for close range combat. This extra weight made them a little slower.

Realizing that something big was about to go down, everyone fled to the safety of the buildings when they saw the orbs coming. Within moments half the streets in downtown Central City were like high noon in the old west. Renalds, the platoons current head watched in silence as one by one the bots reported back nothing.

They knew it was here somewhere. Their new tracking system was near flawless and once all the platoons were equipped with it, the empire's furry agent was as good as dead. So long as the new equipment passed this field test at any rate.

"I'm not sure I like these things sir." One of the pilots stated, glancing out the side of his mech towards the robots at their sides. "Especially considering what we'll be putting them against soon enough."

LZ-1 Troopers were unmanned mechs developed after more examination of the Doctor's technology. About twice the size of a man and armed with the latest weaponry it was theorized they could compete with the Empire's own Automatons, but since the two sides hadn't met in battle yet since Ragnarok, that couldn't be proven.

While this operation was mostly a man hunt for a dangerous terrorist it was also a weapons system test of their new robotic soldiers. Thus far their own success in automated robotics technology had been the espionage units. Gun hardliners and top officials, including Jericho Mandarin himself, were all waiting for the results these machines produced.

"Well live with it solider; so long as they get the job done who cares?" Renalds asked

Suddenly one of the bots reported back a positive sighting, before the signal from the machine was lost, the unit destroyed in an instant. The last recorded image was a blur moving straight across the lens before static claimed the screen. "LZ-1 Troopers move into attack formation, all combat mech's hold and wait until further orders!"

The eyes of each Trooper glowed in response before they arched themselves down and took off down the street in formation. They tore their way through the streets on the serrated tracks attached to their heals; their machine guns held at the ready. Detecting the slightest hint of movement to the left, the leading unit turned just in time to see a flash of blue shoot past at speed. The footage was quickly relayed back to the commando unit.

"Yeah it's him alright; the reaction time of these troopers seems fast enough to keep up." Renalds muttered to himself. Their target, according to military intelligence, was capable of moving faster than the naked eye could see. Machines didn't have that handicap.

"Do we move in yet sir?"

"Not yet. I need a better visual. Let the Troopers get the first shot."

The Troopers came to a stop in the middle of the street in the centre of the market district, forming themselves into a tight circle facing outwards. With that 360 degree camera angle they saw collectively in all directions at once.

A flash of blue shot past them to the left and bullets lanced after it in that direction, riddling a car with holes before the projectiles hit the fuel tank and the vehicle exploded.

"Confirmation of enemy received." Renalds announced when the robots relayed the image of a spiny figure racing from the shadows of an alleyway. "All combat mechs move in for additional support. Troopers surround and destroy."

"Roger." One after the other the giant walkers lifted off the ground and coursed though towards the area.

The troopers, moving far quicker than their target moved to intercept. They surrounded it with ease and held it at gun point. Now they had a clear picture of it, the image of a furry was sent back to Renalds.

He growled angrily. This was a hedgehog alright, but it was the wrong one. This was female, with pink fur and short quills almost like hair. A red hair-band ran across her head holding up a formation of quills that almost resembled a hair style quiff. A pair of frightened grass green eyes were staring up at the robots that were holding her at gun point.

A shopping bag full of groceries had been dropped by her feet, an apple rolling to a stop by one of the troopers feet.

Even if hedgehogs were unpopular in society killing an unarmed civilian was out of the question.

"Cancelling battle commands for Troopers." Renalds sighed typing in the abort code, only to find that the system would not accept it. A loud beeping rang out accomplice by an 'incorrect password' message. "What's this?" He demanded retyping in the code. Again the machines refused to accept it.

The system froze up and the Troopers still had the civilian set as their target. They had been programmed to accept hedgehogs as an enemy and saw any attempt to abort a 'kill' mission as sabotage. They raised their rifles and prepared to fire. The female hedgehog backed up in fear but she was surrounded completely, there was no escape. "No! Abort abort!" Renalds cried out desperately trying to make them stop.

A shimmer of heat passed through the air before a blue blur came hurtling out of the trees and slammed directly into one of the trooper's heads. The heat generated by the friction in the air melted the robot's head clean off its shoulders and without its central processor the robot lost control of its body and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

The girl hedgehog looked up as something eclipsed the light from her eyes. Standing there with his back to her was another hedgehog.

His fur mostly royal blue with tanned peach areas around the stomach arms and muzzle. A pair of fingerless grey sports gloves were stretched over the hands and clenched into fists at either side. The quills lanced back from the head several fused together to form jagged strands.

Knee and elbow pads were sprayed with paint to resemble stars. His jeans were torn in several places and grey shirt with orange fire markers as just the same.

A pair of headphones was around his neck, the lead running down his side until they reached an mp3player latched onto his belt.

"Is that… is that him?" Renalds asked in awe at the image sent back showed their target in detail for the first time. As furries went, this one could have been no older than seventeen but had carved one of their robots up as if it were made of cardboard.

The eyes slowly slid open to show a pair of darkened emerald green eyes that despite their darkness seemed to spark with inner light. Without a word, he flipped the headphones up onto his erect ears before turning the walkman on, a fast rock themed music pounding out.

The Troopers changed their target and raised their rifles ready to fire.

A near sadistic sneer spread across the blue hedgehog's lips. He propelled himself forward at tremendous speed, the shockwave hitting the girl behind him and knocking her over.

Bullets coursed through the air but using extraordinary agility the hedgehog dodged them all, sliding through the streams before speeding towards the others. Two went down in an instant, jagged holes with melted metal outlines torn through their mid sections.

Rebounding off the sidewalk, the blue furry spun through the air doing a complete three hundred and sixty degree flip before slamming a kick directly into the first Troopers head knocking it clean off.

The remaining five slid out to form a better defensive formation, firing as they went. The bullets missed their intended target but shattered the windows of a department store on the far side of the street.

Seeing this, the hedgehog darted past them drawing their fire. Once he reached the wall he stopped, then shot up it, using the momentum off his speed to keep going up the vertical surface.

"Impossible…" Renalds breathed in utter astonishment. "Nothing can be that fast!" The hedgehog rebounded off the wall and while in mid air, somersaulted back over the robots and once in perfect position; curved into a ball. He paused in mid air for a single moment, before slamming down on top off one of the Troopers. The metal melted even before the attack struck, the robot caving in before exploding.

The pink hedgehog watched in utter amazement at the sight, her green eyes wide in a mute mixture of awe and shock. The boy was so agile and fast it was completely unbelievable.

"Mech's move in, engage the target!" With that final order the walkers carried on, flying forward at a faster speed.

The final two troopers realized this new target had greater combat capabilities than they had and their only chance to accomplish anything on this mission was to take out their original target. They about faced away from the blue one and made a bee line straight for the girl.

She tried to run by they were outpacing her with ease, their rifles raised into perfect firing position. She scrambled for the safety of a car, but two missiles streaked ahead of her and the vehicle exploded, throwing her to the ground.

Scrambling back to her feet, she watched as the shadows of the two automated soldiers cast themselves over her and two rifles aimed themselves at her.

They never got a chance to fire. Heat burned through their backs, melting the armour to breaking point so when the attack actually hit, the metal broke open with ease. Each of them exploded together, the force throwing the pink hedgehog down onto the ground. Fragments of molten metal started raining down with smoke trailing after them.

The girl covered her head until he ground stopped shaking, then she turned over and watched as the flames died down and a sole figure was left standing there amongst them.

The blue hedgehog pulled his headphones off his ears, a satisfied smile on his face. It was then he caught sight of her and their eyes met.

The girl sat there, her eyes never leaving his. Silence passed between the two of them, their gazes simply fixed upon one another. Suddenly a loud roaring broke the silence. The blue hedgehog's eyes darted to the side to watch as G.U.N walkers entered the vicinity, their missile launcher pads opening up one after the other. A wide grin passed over his face.

His eyes darted back to the girl and he made a brief salute with his hand before about facing and racing off; his speed unbelievable as he tore down the street in an instant; vanishing from her sight with a loud sonic boom.

"Amy, dear girl are you alright?" A man who ran a nearby convenience store asked, helping the hedgehog up.

"Yeah, yes I'm fine." She replied, blinking to clear her head.

"Those damn Gun soldiers." The man muttered, helping her pick up her scattered groceries. "They think just because they have all those big toys that they can do anything they like."

"Who…who was that boy?" She asked staring off into the distance after the Mechs' still rushing to keep up with the blinking blue dot on the horizon.

"I don't know." The man admitted. "Maybe he's the one the Robotnik's been using to strike their bases or somethin'." Amy paused and then slumped her shoulders in mute disappointment. Was he the one the entire hedgehog community had to thank for their persecution? But he looked so handsome, hardly one she would have guessed worked for the Doctor.

"Then…why did he save me?" She asked out load as the wind started pushing her pink quills out of place. Amy Rose had lived a relatively normal life; a simple university student living in an apartment and working in a corner store.

She didn't know it then, but she had just had her first encounter with one who was going to change all that.

From the top of a building, light reflected off the surface of a camera lens. It zoomed out as far as it would go after the blue dot on the horizon. Once it was out of sight, it was lowered and the hands holding materialized. A chameleon faded his colours back to their normal dark violet, a pair of flaxen yellow eyes staring out after the source of the loud engine roaring. It was clad in a simple dark trench coat with the collar upturned to hide the face. Most of the rest of his body was hidden within.

His hands were gloved and had a spiked collar around each wrist.

"Man that was fast." He muttered to himself lowering the camera. "I've never seen anything like it before." The chameleon flipped open the camera portable screen and played back the digitally captured footage. He had captured the entire fight on DVD and even looking back of it he was stunned by the raw speed of the boy. This had to be the one he was looking for.

Reaching into his trench coat, the chameleon withdrew a small communications device; attaching it to the side of his head and curving a microphone around over his mouth. "This is 'Eagle-Eye' calling 'Sleeping Tiger'. Come in 'Sleeping Tiger'." The speaker buzzed near his ear before a com-line was opened up.

"Hey there Espio, did you get what ya went for?" The chameleon cringed.

"Use the code you idiot!" He snapped back, appalled by his colleges stupidity.

"Er…right y'are. Did you get tha' footage 'Eagle-Eye?"

"Affirmative." Espio replied, glancing back to the camera. He stopped the play back to study the features on the boys face. "This is our guy without a doubt. He sure is fast for a kid."

"Good, return to base. We'll have a look at it then decide how to do this."

"Roger." He flipped the device back and removed it from his head, sliding both the com-link and the camera into his pocket. Espio glanced around to make sure he was not being watched. Everyone was too busy talking to each other and examining the damage left by the battle. Distant sirens were sounded, firemen on their way to deal with the wreckage.

Once ensured he was not being observed, Espio's coloured changed to match the background and he seemed to disappear; becoming one with the world around him.

* * *

-

Prowler's Repair Depot was a garage on the outer districts of Westopolis. It was a repair pit for anything ranging from cars and aircraft to old run down Gun mechs. A shutter door separated the drive-in entrance to the main shop area. Oil stains were all over the garage floor and walls, along with an old army recruitment poster that was so faded the G.U.N logo was barely visible.

The pit itself was directly in the middle, several long and thin robotic arms lancing down from a steel pulley grid on the ceiling to hold up the battle scarred remains of a Big Foot walker. Several mechanics were working underneath the colossal machine, sparks flying from welding torches. One of them was using a blow torch to remove a damaged section of armour plating that was beyond repair.

Several cars were placed up tight against each other, a queue for the attention of the repair crews.

"Ok, let's put this aside for later; we got a really pay off if we get that Conejo up and goin'." The chief mechanic, a furry called Miles Prowler called out to the others.

He was young, _**very young**_, barely fourteen but had more experience with mechanics that most of the people in the business. His fur was bright orange and his eyes sea blue. His peach overalls were stained with oil, along with the white patches of fur over his muscle and chest. Several trick strands of head fur lanced out from the top of his forehead from underneath a baseball cap, all clinging together under the influence of the oil. Trailing out behind him was the physical mutation which had earned him the nickname' Tails' by which he preferred to go by.

Instead of having one tail, he had two. Both worked just as well as the other and aside from a bit of name calling from people with too much time on their hands it hadn't affected his life in any negative way.

"What kind of pay off are we talkin' about here?" Another mechanic asked with an heavy eastern accent, looking up from his work. He was an anthro crossbreed, his mother a rabbit and his father a hare. Having characteristics of both, his fur was chocolate brown with light shaded muzzle and stomach. A red bandana was tied around his forehead and was all that kept his floppy ears from falling over his eyes. A bite had been taken out of his left ear.

"2000 extra if we get it done by tomorrow Hare." Tails replied, waving a clip and board for them to see. "So let's move it, this is cash we can't afford to pass up; move that mech out of the way and get the car in."

"You've sold me mate." Hare replied, pulling his black tined goggles back over his face. "I hate's workin' on this military stuff anyways. Just looking at these death machine's give me the creeps." The mech was pulled out of the way, lifted high into the air before the mechanisms on the ceiling had it floating to the side to rest it down on the floor for them to come back to later.

"There's poetry in these machines, Hare." Bean, a duck with green feathers told him with a wide smile. "There's something almost musical about them really."

"When they're not crushing people underneath their feet that is."

Before they could see the car in, all the windows rattled wildly and several cups of coffee jumped from the nearby table onto the floor, followed by a distant roar like distant cannon fire.

"Hey what was that?" Bark the Polar bear, their oldest mechanic asked looking around. Tails managed a straight face and slumped his shoulders. He knew what it was.

"Probably just a low flying plane." He quickly lied brushing it off before anyone could keep their curiosity peeked. "Come on, let's get this job done." Just as they were pulling the car into place and the loud whirring of machinery ripped through the air, the garage side door opened and a human made his way inside. In his late sixties he had a good share of wrinkles and grey hair. He wore a brown hat with a jacket to match.

"Tails, over here!" He shouted over the noise of the blow torches.

"Chuck, I don't believe it! What are you doing here you old goat!" Tails replied with a huge spread parting his lips; gesturing for the work to stop momentarily. "I thought you were going to be in Central City for a while?" The two of them shook hands, a smile passing between the two of them. Then it grew into a slap on the back as the two old friends met again for the first time in years.

"Pull up a chair lads, this might take a while." Hare sighed with a brief gesture of his large arms before going over to the instant coffee machine.

"Central's not a good place to be at the moment." Chuck stated. "Government watchdogs are everywhere and it's hard to do business with them breathing down your neck." Tails grinned and placed his hands on his hips.

"I see. You stayin' in Westopolis for a while?"

"Sort of. We decided to rent an apartment until something better comes along."

"We?" Tails repeated looking a little confused. "You mean you're bringing the family back with you?" Chuck shrugged and drew his hands back through his hair.

"It was Nelson's overall decision. He's moving the Thorndyke Industry headquarters here. He's bringing the family over." Tails laughed and folded his arms.

"It'll be good to see Nelson and Lindsey again, how those two love birds?" Chuck suddenly smacked a hand to his forehead.

"Damn it, this should be the front page news." Tails blinked with a confused look on his face. "They're expecting a baby." The young fox just stood there with his expression slowly moving to one of utter disbelief.

"A what?"

"Ya know chief, small soft things people make a fuss over." Hare commented and they all burst out laughing.

"But they've only been married two years!" Tails blurted out ignoring them. Chuck laughed, rolling his head back.

"I can see you've never been in love." Tails coughed to regain his composure.

"I am only fourteen."

"Most boys in Central have had at least ONE girlfriend by your age."

"Well that's Central." The young fox commented and then decided to change the subject. "When are they coming over?"

"As soon as the child's born." Chuck replied. "I still can't believe it Tails, I'm going to be a grandfather." A far off harmonious look gathered on the old mans face for a brief moment. "It's like fatherhood all over again."

"I'm happy for you." Tails added with a smile patting him on the back. "When are they expecting?"

"It'll be another few months." Chuck carried on as if in a daze. "All signs show it's a healthy baby and as soon as Lindsey's able, Nelson's bringing her over."

"She's been pregnant that long? You didn't even give me a call for a heads up…" Chuck shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry, it's just been a busy year or too. It's almost a police state in Central city, all the time name of security, of course. I heard they're on the look out for that Imperial agent."

"The fast one?" Tails asked suddenly looking worried. Chuck nodded.

"Any big business people who can afford it are moving out. They can't get anything done, legitimate or otherwise, with those state lap dogs watching them all the time."

"Alright, all the gang together again. It'll be great."

"That's why I'm here. It'd mean a lot to me if you'd be there to a reunion party I'm throwing when they get here. Of course if you're too busy…"

"Are you nuts? The entire G.U.N army couldn't keep me away. I'll be there Chuck."

"Great, I'll give you a call on where and when." With that Chuck made his way back towards the exit.

"Hey, how about lunch sometime; on me." Tails called over.

"I'll take you up later." Chuck replied before walking out into the street. "Ah nuts I forgot to ask if he could tune up my car." He grumbled, smacking a hand to his forehead. Quickly went back into the garage, only to find that Tails was not there waiting for him.

Glancing around, Chuck tried to spot him around in the working mechanics but couldn't see him. On the far side of the work pits was a flight of rusted metal stairs leading up to a side office. Chuck could see the back of the young foxes head in the window.

Quickly he crossed over and scaled the stairs, navigating over pots of paint, brooms and wrench sets. He was reaching for the door handle when he heard a raised voice coming from the other side.

"I know you had a job to do, but still; getting chased by a G.U.N combat division through Central is not what I had in mind when I said; _be discreet_!" It was Tails' voice. Chuck glimpsed through the misty window in the door to see him there talking to another furry.

"I was discreet." It was a hedgehog, with long flowing blue quills. Chuck couldn't get a good look at him from this angle.

"This is discreet?!" Tails asked, turning on the T.V. It flipped on showing a mute news report of the carnage down the main street of Central City. The reporter was standing before a scene of ragged metal which were being removed by military salvage teams while the fire fighters kept the fires at bay.

"Hey that wasn't my fault." The blue hedgehog protested letting a pair of sun glasses tip down his nose. "Those damn robots were attacking a girl. I got there just in time to stop them from putting a bullet in her brain. What was I supposed to do, let them shoot her?"

"We can't afford to be exposed to the press right now." Tails argued on. "I know it doesn't sit well, but for the moment at least you have to keep a low profile." He turned to the TV just as they were showing a brief image of the perpetrator passed on screen, the blurry image of something blue moving at an intense speed. "The last thing we need right now is you being a 'have-a-go-hero'."

"Yes mother." The hedgehog muttered back dryly.

"I'm serious Sonic." Tails snapped. "The entire G.U.N army is out searching for their enemy and so far, you fit the bill completely." The blue hedgehog chuckled in response and unfolded his arms, reaching over for a hamburger.

"You worry too much." He stated. Chuck was confused. Was this the hedgehog G.U.N had been searching for? The Doctor's little terrorist? If so why was Tails helping him?

"I just don't want to get arrested." The young fox replied. "At least tell me you made some progress in your search." A wide grin spread over the hedgehog's face and he swallowed a mouthful of burger. Flipping up to his feet with acrobatic grace, he searched into his tattered jacket and withdrew something from the inside pocket.

He held it aloft, revealing it to be a fist sized jewel. It was cut into a diamond shape but from by the way it gleamed in the light showed it was an emerald; but the colour was all wrong. It was purple rather than green.

"Is that… this is one of them?" Tails asked as he gently took it from the hedgehog; he turned it over in his hands to study it. An unimpressed look passed over his face as he did so. "This is what we've been bustin' our butts trying to find? It looks like any rock I could pick up from a jewellery store. Hardly what I expected."

"This 'rock' packs enough energy to rival a power plant." At this point Tails held the thing as if it were a ticking time bomb. "I can feel the power buzzing within, even from here. While carrying it, I felt like I could race around the entire world. It lent me strength the likes of which I'd never felt before. It was almost intoxicating." The look on the hedgehogs face as he gazed on the jewel was almost sadistic.

"We'll see about that." Tails remarked callously, placing the rock down on the table after knocking all the rubbish aside. Underneath the clutter was a device often used to read for volts passing through car batteries, but looked like it had been adapted for another usage. The wire ends were attached to a metallic funnel and into this the emerald was placed. "Jesus H. Christ!" The fox suddenly examined at the reading came through. "This has the chaotic equivalent of 5000 volts just sitting in it as neutral energy!" The hedgehog laughed and folded his arms.

"What did I tell ya?"

"Then it's true." Tails began now in awe. "The legends are true…this is an actual Chaos Emerald." Chuck was let there utterly stunned. A Chaos Emerald? An actual Chaos Emerald? That was impossible; they were simply folklore and myth! But there it was sitting there in front of him.

He didn't want to believe it, but Tails must have been plotting with this Imperial agent to use that emerald to blow something up and if it really contained that much energy it was capable of causing tremendous destruction. Chuck realized he had to let Gun know about this immediately. Acting on instinct he made a break for it, knocking over the mops and paint cans in the progress making a huge noise.

"What was that?" The hedgehog asked and Chuck poured on speed, trying to make for the door. Waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs however were several of Tails' mechanics. They made a lunge for the old man and showing surprising agility he dodged them, only to fall pray to a blow to the back of the head as Hare swung a wrench back. The blow sent shockwaves down through his spine before he began to fall, the last thing he recalled hearing was Tails crying out;

"No don't!"


	3. Chapter 3

The metal corridors were so sterile it sickened Shadow. It was a cheep copy of his original environment, a mere parody of the near living mechanical world in which he had been raised. The robots passed by him silently and without a word, all of them assigned tasks to complete their various projects on schedule. It would not be long before the race began and the Empire intended to get a head start.

Construction at the Raganrok front lines was nearly complete. As soon as it was, the G.U.N military was going to be in for a surprise. Still, the near infiltration of a spy from the Federation had forced them to update their security measures and it was slowing down development a little.

Even through most of the Empire's infrastructure was automated, some of the work had to be done by hand. As robots didn't have the delicate touch needed to work with fusion power generators, the workers brought in from captured territories had to do it for them. When they saw him coming, they instantly got out of the hedgehog's way; bolting for the safety of a side room to leave the corridor vacant for him alone.

For he was Shadow; the right had man of the Doctor himself.

A hedgehog with long fused black quills, a red streak lancing across the top ends until tapering off; white chest fur stood out across his chest and shoulders. He didn't wear a shirt very often, only a dark brown jacket across his shoulders and arms leaving his stomach and chest bare. A pair of golden rings almost glowed on his wrists, attached to the gloves he wore.

But it was the eyes that caught most people at once; the piercing blood red eyes that held back like a damn a flood tide of anger and rage.

"Sire, the senate convenes at Eve city in five days. Your personal jet will be ready for whenever you wish to leave." An echoed voice came out of the chamber just ahead and Shadow stopped, almost instinctively to listen.

"Yes, yes of course. I'll be along in an hour or two. Now please… I have matters to attend to here."

"As you wish sire."

Shadow grunted and moved into the chamber, out of the darkness and into the over saturated light.

"Ah, if it isn't my devoted servant." Walking out into the main workshop area, the hedgehog glanced up to see the man the entire world feared standing there on a high podium waiting for him. An aid walking down a connecting catwalk towards a doorway.

This man clearly had clearly not looked after his physique. His stomach stood out so much it passed his chest and gave his entire torso the appearance of an egg. A pair of spectacles hid the eyes from view with most of the face concealed by a large chestnut brown shaggy moustache. His skin was pale, showing he had spent far too much time in a laboratory than with natural sunlight.

Despite his obesity, his limbs were strangely thin and lacked either fat or muscle; as if his entire bulk had been concentrated on his torso.

His pants were leather and jet black, engraved with silver along the zipper where they met at the stomach line. His boots were silver and the zipper along the side showed that despite being an utter genius, the Doctor still didn't like to fiddle with shoelaces.

Above his waist the Doctor's jacket was blood red and curved up to form a thick cuff that cupped his head.

An almost regal red like drape curved over one shoulder and over the chest, clipping onto a golden broach along the beltline before curving up along the other shoulder. A long cape flowed out behind him to reach his ankles.

His right arm was glad in golden armour, a thick shoulder pad underneath the drape going down to a beautifully engraved armoured plate that protected his upper arm and connected onto a thick gauntlet.

"Tell me Shadow." Doctor Ivo Robotnik asked; gesturing out to his right towards a raised platform. As he did so a beam of light lanced down from the ceiling and illuminated what was being constructed by mutable robotic arms there. "What do you think of these masterpieces?" Shadow said nothing; he simply glanced along the row of mechanical puppets laid out.

They were all hulking machines, armoured like tanks with giant laser cannons on their ends of their primary limbs. They all had different coloured armour plating and a serial number painted in white on the chest. "These are the new E100 series robots I intend to make my elite during the scavenger hunt. I've been working on their design for months now."

"More robots?" Shadow asked looking unimpressed. "The fleet's entire crew list has already been drawn up; we don't have room for more." The Doctor smiled, the side of his face pushing his large moustache up above eye level.

"Oh these won't be going with me. They'll be going with you. They're hunters, target finders I have developed especially to be your companions." Shadow chuckled once, finding even the notion humorous.

"I have no need for mechanized dolls." He stated with some degree of venom, his superior tone thick with arrogance.

"No I don't suppose you do. But you'll be able to cover more ground with them and that will be essential in the coming times." The Doctor remarked. "Besides, even you could us a little backup now and then." The black and red hedgehog crossed his arms and hissed out through his nose.

"Not likely." He muttered under his breath.

"But anyway, for the reason I called you." Robotnik began again and clapped once. The light dimmed to nothing and the platform with the robots faded into the shadows. "My spy satellites have been monitoring various Federation transmissions and they've turned up something rather interesting." The large monitor screen behind him lit up; buzzed with static for a moment before showing the recorded footage from a G.U.N mech that had been transmitted back to their headquarters but was intercepted by one of the Doctor's virus data hunters. It showed their target, a fast moving object hurtling down a street with their own robots following close behind.

"Apparently someone's been giving 'their' newest robotics systems a run for their money." Shadow watched the fast moving object on screen dart and slid through streams of bullets, moving with agility that rivalled his own. It was moving too fast for the camera to pick up clearly and the only thing it managed to get was that the object itself was blue. "At first I thought it was you doing some work after hours." The Doctor continued on as he adjusted his glasses, pushing them up his nose so the light shone off their surface. "But you're not known for your chivalry." Finally the object came to a stop, slowing to stand in defence of a pink hedgehog girl who was in the line of fire of one of the robots.

"He… he looks just like me." Shadow muttered. The image was furry at best by he saw a blue hedgehog with a body shape similar to that of the dark hedgehog. A pair of emerald green eyes glared out, as deep and penetrating as his eyes.

"Relative of yours?" Robotnik asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's not funny." Shadow replied, snapping angrily. "Where is he?"

"That's what G.U.N itself would like to know. My guess is they've been chasing this specimen thinking he's you." The Doctor put his hands behind his back and tried to puff out his chest, only succeeding in bloating his already defined stomach. "I can't tell you that this is most interesting, especially to me.

A hedgehog that can move and fight just as well as you..." Without a word Shadow arched his fingers and fired a bolt of golden energy from his palm, lancing through the air until it struck the wall just above Robotnik's head.

"Nothing compares to me Doctor." The black and red hedgehog emphasized angrily, waving his hand to waft away the smoke. "This impostor will be dead before the day is out."

"Oh Shadow really boy, there's nothing wrong with a little healthy competition." The Doctor replied apparently unfazed. "But if you're impatient to put this challenger to the test, why don't you head into G.U.N territory to track him down? I'll be watching to see how well he performs." The smile on his face widened. "It should prove most amusing." Shadow lowered his hand and a sneer parted his lips.

"I will return here in the morning with the impostor's head." He turned and walked back towards the exit.

* * *

-

The life of Amy Rose was pretty average. A young woman of 20, she had moved to Central City from Westopolis after her mother died to carry on her education at University. To meet the demands of both study needs and the rent on her apartment she got a job at a convenience store. Up until yesterday her life had been pretty normal; the story of probably half the students in the city.

That day was the only time in her life anything out of the ordinary had happened. When the stuff had happened, it happened with a bang.

She could still picture that face in her minds eye. Those emerald green eyes haunted her the most, refusing to leave her for a moment. As if she could loose herself in their intense stare.

"Who was that guy?" She asked herself out load as she walked through the crowds. When those military robots had surrounded her she'd been more terrified than anything in her entire life, convinced for a single moment when they raised their guns towards her that that was that; then he arrived, coming to her rescue like some prince charming from a fairy tale. She couldn't believe someone like that could have anything to do with the Doctor, but he way he moved; so fast and agile; how could he be anyone else than the Empire's high speed agent?

For the rest of the day she walked around in a daze. Even as she attended lectures her thoughts couldn't handle her chosen subjects. Yesterday was far too fresh in her mind for that.

She shook her head, silently confirming to herself that no one who looked that handsome could possibly be working for the bad guys.

"Hey are you in there Amy?" A voice asked bringing her out of her wonderful dream of those emerald eyes. Blinking, the pink hedgehog looked up to see face of her friend; an older Student staring down at her.

"Yeah, sure Vanilla." She replied straightened up, remembering for the first time today where she was. Vanilla was a furry like her, only a rabbit. Her short fur was light orange, darker in various places such as the end of her long ears. Her eyes were a dark shade of amber. Vanilla had been a student for another year when Amy started attending classes and lectures. They both had advanced literature as a course subject.

"Ok spill it." Vanilla began giving Amy a sly stare.

"Spill what?" The pink hedgehog began trying to look innocent.

"Who's the boy, what's his name and what's he look like?" Amy blushed a near blood red and looked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Amy tried to protest but Vanilla was having none of it.

"Oh please, I've seen that look a thousand times. It's the look that screams _'I've just met a gorgeous boy'_." Amy turned even redder and tried to hide it. Vanilla however saw this as a sign of coming victory and widened her sly smile. "So come on, what's his name?" Realizing she'd been found out, Amy admitted defeat and sighed slumping her shoulders.

"I don't know." She replied.

"Oh its one of _**those**_ crushes is it?" The rabbit asked with a raised eyebrow, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What's he like?" Amy hesitated, unsure if she could call forth the necessary descriptive words from the English language. She didn't know any worth words or phrases to describe his shimmering blue quills or those intense green eyes. "Oh…" Vanilla continued picking that much up just by looking at the hedgehog. "Girl you got it bad." Amy tried not to turn any more red than she already was. "If he's the kind of guy to leave that kind of impression than I guess I can't really blame you."

"Nothing's going to really come of it." Amy said. "I only met him yesterday and I doubt he's the kind of guy to stick around in one place for very long." She glanced off to the side. "Especially with all those military robots after him."

"Pardon?" Vanilla asked looking puzzled.

"Nothing." Amy quickly added, pretending to look down at the report she had to hand in by the end of the week. "When did you get such an expert on relationships? Last I checked you were still single." Vanilla managed a sour face.

"Ok fine, I'm lackin' a man in my life." She admitted flopping down on the desk in front of her. "But you don't have to have one to see the signs. And if you got drawn in that badly by meeting him once, I can only guess what he's like." Amy decided at this point that she didn't like the way this conversation was progressing.

"Just how do they expect us to get this in by the end of the week?" She held up her measly three pages, a clearly indication she was in trouble as it was a seven page minimum essay. "I mean, how much can you write about the history of eastern poetry? The Monarchy of Kukku is a barbarian culture. They've never once composed so much as a ballad."

"You think this is bad?" Vanilla asked with her ears falling back lifelessly over her shoulders. "I heard for the exam final we have to take, we only have only a single morning to write up a ten page essay on Federation history." Amy cringed. The mere thought of that made her skin crawl.

When the lecture was over, most of the students went to have something to eat before the late night sessions. As Amy hadn't anything scheduled for tonight she headed off grounds. First she was going to dump her things back at her apartment and then…well. She didn't known what then. Yesterday had still screwed up her system and left her a little vacant; as if unable to remember what she usually occupied herself with on Wednesday afternoons.

"Today only, in the Central Racing stadium." She glanced up towards the screen overlooking the plaza she was passing through. "The eastern Babylon Rogues performing for the exhibition match for the start of the annual Extreme Gear Tournament." Dozens of people were gathered below the screen staring up, dozens of fan girls calling out the name of their favourite racer.

Most of them were cheering for 'Jet', the legendary air master of the Babylon Rogues.

"So Jet, what have you got to say to your rivals you're do to face in the finals this weekend?" The rouge's leader, a hawk with long green feathers faced the camera.

"I say bring it on. The Babylon rogues accept any challenge from any joker who thinks himself hot stuff."

"What a hunk!" Some of the girls called.

"Is he single?"

Amy ignored the pathetic display and carried on.

She knew what she wanted to do. Meet that guy for a date. As those on the run rarely had time for such things it was unlikely she was going to find him at the door to her apartment with flowers waiting to take her out for a night on the town.

What she found instead was that the door to her apartment had been forced open. The door lay off its scorched hinges just inside her apartment, still quietly smouldering. She stood there staring at it in mute amazement, before slowly she walked inside. In retrospect it was probably a stupid thing to do as whoever had done this could still very well be here. Her apartment lay in an utter mess, furniture overturned; books and magazines throw across the floor. Every room was the same, everything overturned or torn out.

Several windows were smashed, the glass falling on the fire escape outside.

The cops were called and quickly a squad car was parked outside her apartment building.

"Sure nothing was taken? Money, personal affects; stuff like that?" One of them asked as when the two out of shape officers finally made it up the two flights of stairs. Quite a lot of people had gathered outside her apartment out of curiosity.

"I don't think so." Amy replied. Most of her stuff was amongst the rubble. "Just the place is a mess."

"I can see that." The officer replied putting his notebook back into his pocket. "Well Jean?" He asked turning to his fellow officer who was studying the door.

"Forced entry alright." The man replied stating the obvious. "But it looks like they used a blow torch to get in." He added, gesturing to the scorched hinges. They had melted at the edges from extreme heat, or an energy burn.

"Strange." The other went putting a fore finger and thumb to his chin. "What I don't get is why they went to the trouble of literally blowing the door off its hinges and then didn't take anything. They only wrecked the place." Amy didn't hear them. A foreboding sense of dread began to creep over her, an unexplainable feeling of looming terror; as if she was being scrutinized by the eyes of death itself.

She tried to shake the feeling off but it just would not go away. "I know this is a personal question but do you have any enemies Miss Rose? Anyone who might want to scare you?" She shook her head. "Alright, we'll see what we can do." The officer reached for his portable radio and as soon as his hand was on it, chaos erupted.

The wall cracked, lines snaking down its surface and brick dust flying out at regular intervals before finally it fell apart.

"What the hell is this?!" One of the cops demanded. Amy just stared into the gloom and then staggered back as a pair of blood red eye, glowing like street lamps snapped open and locked directly onto her.

* * *

-

With the back of his head throbbing as if it had been struck by the hammer of Thor itself, Chuck felt his consciousness returning bit by bit. Groaning loudly he reached up and rubbed the back of his skull, soon wishing he hadn't as it was as it was incredibly sore.

"Easy there Chuck, you took a nasty blow." A familiar voice told him as he slowly sat back up. Someone offered him a cup of coffee but was too groggy to see who it was. Accepting it, he let it pass his lips. It helped and he found his vision start to clear. The first thing he saw when he looked up as a blue hedgehog standing over him with his arms crossed. Memory came flooding back at the sight.

Crying out, he backed up sharply and ended up slamming his head into the wall behind. The blue hedgehog cocked an eyebrow and managed a humoured smile.

"Now that wasn't smart." He remarked calmly.

"Take it easy, he's not going to hurt you." Tails remarked kneeling at Chuck's side with an ice pack.

"Tails just what are you doing?" Chuck demanded despite the throbbing at the back of his brain. "This is the Robotnik's agent, the one the army's been after!"

"Is that true?" Hare asked standing in the doorway of the office looking confused. Most of the mechanics were there as well looking over the furry's shoulder. "I stopped the old geezer from running, but if I did it to aid a bunch of traitors…"

"Working for the Doctor…" The blue hedgehog commented dryly. "Yeah right." He fell back and slumped in a chair, putting his feet up.

"Chuck, all of you; you've got it all wrong." Tails began to explain. "This is Sonic. He's not the one going around blowing up G.U.N stuff."

"Just the one they're accusing." The hedgehog continued on, whipping the sun glasses off his nose to reveal his emerald green eyes. "I'm legit; If I wasn't Tails wouldn't let me in the front door." The mechanics glanced amongst each other as if begging the others for a better explanation.

"But I heard you plotting terrorism." Chuck carried on, pointing to the purple rock sitting on the table behind them. "You were going to use the energy inside that thing to blow something up." Sonic and Tails glanced behind them at the cut jewel, then at each other.

There was a brief moment of silence before the both of them burst out laughing. "What?" Chuck asked unable to find the joke.

"Old man, if you were really ease-dropping then you'd know we weren't talking about that." The hedgehog continued once he'd gotten his chuckling under control. Chuck was about to say something else when Tails cut him off.

"All we said was this stone had high energy content. No one said anything about using that to blow something up." The fox explained. "You jumped to conclusions." Chuck was about to argue when he realized that Tails was right. During that conversation he hadn't heard either of them say anything about causing destruction.

He'd jumped to that conclusion when he assumed the hedgehog was the Robotnik agent. If that was a mistake as Tails claimed then it threw his entire theory out the window.

"Alright, if this wasn't a bomb-making-class then what was it?" Hare asked sounding impatient, tapping one of his large feet against the floor.

"Just a little collection I've started. Tails remarked picking up the jewel on the table and studying it in the light. It was perfectly cut to the shape of a diamond but was clearly not the same material. The surface was a dark violet and within the depths of the stone there was a soft glowing.

"I heard what you call that." Chuck started making his way to his feet. He was unsteady and his head was still hurting. Sonic handed him he ice pack, which he placed against the side of his skull. "So… a Chaos Emerald huh?"

"A what?" Hare asked looking amazed. The other mechanics buzzed with whispers as Tails held the stone aloft for them to see.

"You were obsessed with finding at least one; so you picked up the shiniest rock you could find and started calling it a Chaos Emerald." Chuck continued. "Before I thought it was simply childish infatuation with folk lore, but if you're actually willing to believe they exist…"

"This IS a Chaos Emerald Chuck." Tails emphasized gazing deep into the stone. "This isn't some game I'm playing. These are real." Chuck leaned back against the wall, pausing for a moment to let the ice pack do its work.

"Prove it." He stated simply.

Sonic shot the young fox a glance, hesitation passing through his eyes. Tails looked indecisive for a moment; before he nodded.

"Show him." He stated simply. He blue hedgehog sighed and pulled off his jacket. Then he removed his shirt to show a toned upper body. The markings on the left shoulder attracted Chuck's attention more than the muscle.

"That…that tattoo." Chuck began slowly staring at the mark on the hedgehog's arm. It was an image of eight stars, drawn in a circle around a larger ninth. "I've seen that mark before." The memory ran through him, almost as fresh as the day it was made. That temple in the south, hidden in the rainforest and the markings on the walls and the murals spread out across the walls of the inner sanctum. That same icon had been there.

The mark of the Devil's Trigger.

"It's not a tattoo Chuck." Tails replied with a grim smile. "It's a birthmark." Chuck shot him a glance, then stared back at the image. He wasn't an expert on the subject, but when he looked more closely he could see that the image hadn't been etched into the skin as normal tattoos were. It actually looked as if it was part of the skin itself and had always been.

"That's impossible." He stated in denial. "That well defined an image can't be a birthmark; and the odds of it being a match for those at the temple…"

"I know the odds, but it's the same thing. I've compared it with the photos." Tails replied. Chuck shook his head as if trying not to listen.

"If it was…that would make this hedgehog…" He paused to look Tails right in the face. There wasn't a shred of doubt in his eyes and it suddenly dawned on the old man. "You actually believe this is…" Tails nodded once.

"Can I put my shirt back on?" Sonic asked. "I like showing off as much as the next guy, but it's kinda chilly."

"Tails this is insanity." Chuck whispered quietly while the blue hedgehog put his shirt and jacket back on. "That's nothing but a myth!"

"All myths have a basis in reality." The fox replied throwing it off. "You're the one that told me that. Besides, it's already been proven."

"You mean by that?" The old man asked glancing in the direction of the purple gem stone that lay on the desk. "As a man of science, you can't possibly expect me to believe that that is an ACTUAL Chaos Emerald."

"I know, it doesn't look like the kind of thing you'd expect from the legend dose it?" Tails asked tossing it through the air. Chuck caught it and studied it more closely himself. It was larger than his small hand and he couldn't get his fingers around it completely. "Looks like something you could pick up from a pawn shop. But this thing's got enough ambient energy inside it to rival the output of a PowerStation."

"Just as ambient?"

"You got it. Think of what kind of power could be unleashed when it's fully energised?"

"Sorry to interrupt boyo's." Hare started holding his metal wrench in his hands, tapping it occasionally against the side of the table to get over his impatience. "But just what is this… Chaos Emerald nonsense. That's just a myth."

"It's a long story." Tails said scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

"And just do you know this 'ain't' the Robotnik agent?" One of the other mechanics asked giving Sonic a glance.

"We interrupt this program for this special news bulletin." An unfamiliar voice started from the small television set sitting on the able. The emergency news broadcast was being quickly rerouted and the image of the presenter was a little garbled. "Central city is uproar tonight as the infamous agent of the Robotnik Empire has taken a hostage while being chased by the authorities."

"Gee that was good timing. See?" Sonic asked, jabbing his finger at the screen over enthusiastically. "If I was really the bad guy I'd be over at Central." Chuck just muttered something and continued watching.

"We now go live to our reporter in Central for the full story; Howard? Are you there?" A reporter, running down a busy street with a microphone in his hand appeared on screen. Sirens were blaring in the background and past him were hurrying Gun soldiers all armed to the teeth.

"The military arrived on the outskirts of the city around half an hour ago." He began, quite out of breath. "Police had blockaded most of the roads. Our news group is current tagging along with a group of SWAT tracking the agent. He has a hostage and they are keeping a good distance…what the hell! There he goes!" The camera angled upwards towards the roof tops just in time to catch the image of a hedgehog leaping across to the rooftops of the far side.

Sonic paused, startled at how much this one looked like himself. It was like looking into a mirror. Suddenly that became the least of his concerns.

Slung over the dark hedgehog's shoulder was a collection of pink he recognised. It was the girl he had saved from the robots yesterday. The memory was still fresh. That was her alright.

"Sonic, you ok?"

"Tails I'm going out for a while." He remarked. Before anyone could say anything more, the hedgehog vanished in a streak of blue darting out the door and down the stairs, disappearing down the open garage entrance.

* * *

-

Amy was dumped down onto the roof of an office building. Her kidnapper loomed over her, a pair of blood red eyes staring down. She backed off, face twisting in terror.

"Save your energy." The dark hedgehog stated. "You're not the one I want." She backed up against the side and glanced over it, seeing a fatal drop to the street below. The wind was tearing her quills out of their usual places, but her kidnappers were rigid and didn't even budge in the howling currents.

"Then why did you bring me here?" She began huddling back as he watched her.

"Bait." He replied walking forward slowly. "I could have taken you without anyone noticing if I wanted. Now the entire city knows I'm here and I have you as a hostage. Your little boyfriend should be arriving to come to the rescue any minute now."

"Boyfriend?" Amy started. "I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Sure you don't." The hedgehog began sarcastically. "Well let's just wait for your '_**ex'**_ to turn up shall we?"

-

Central City was not that far away from Station Square and Sonic reached it in little under an hour, travelling at fast speed around the roadblocks and traffic. Flying into the area he'd seen on TV, he found the streets full of crowds come to see if they could catch a glimpse of the legendary Robotnik agent.

Riot control police were trying to force them back with a wall of bullet proof shields.

Racing up the side of a building to the rooftops, the blue hedgehogs carried on around the obstructions until he came to a large flat surface above an office building. Something told him to stop and he came to a screeching half.

A presence made itself known. Slowly he turned to face the shadows of a chimney and leaning against it, watching him intently was another hedgehog. It was the same one was on the news.

"Right on schedule." He stated. Sonic was silent, before he turned to face it completely.

"You've been waiting for me?" He asked. The darker hedgehog nodded once and unfolded his arms, standing up straight. Its features were still concealed by the darkness and the blue hedgehog couldn't make them out. "What for?"

"You've been ruining my reputation." The hedgehog replied, before with a brief gesture of his hand sent a spark of golden energy flying forward; the stream screaming through the air and arching like a bolt of lightning.

"Holy shit!" Sonic cried out before hitting the deck, the energy stream passing over him and crashing into the wall of the stairs leading down into the building opposite, the wall breaking apart in a spray of brick dust and stone fragments. The blue hedgehog stared at the wreckage in amazement.

"I don't like that." The other hedgehog kept on, firing another blast that Sonic had to back away from; the ground exploding near his feet. "You see, I want those lumps of barely sentient flesh quaking in fear when I come for them. To that end I built up my reputation as a destroyer.

Yet you've been going around with skills and an appearance just like mine; being a cliché little 'super-hero'.

For me that's just not acceptable." Sonic looked down at the charred hole in the ground, then slowly up towards his opponent.

"I take it you're the Robotnik agent they're all mistaking me for?" Stepping out of the darkness and into the illumination of the moonlight, the new hedgehog revealed himself completely. He was so much like Sonic himself the resemblance was almost staggering, same species, same sex, same height and from the look of him probably the same age. But his fur was raven black instead of royal blue and his quills didn't sway like Sonic's did. There were jagged and each fused clump had a red streak along the top edge. His shirt was torn along the outer edges of the chest, revealing that his chest fur was long and snow white, jagged over the shoulders. His jacket hid his arms and chest but in torn places Sonic could see that his fur covered his entire body; while Sonic had his stomach and arms bare.

"I am Shadow." He replied staring at Sonic with a pair of blood red eyes. "That is all you need to know."


	4. Chapter 4

Sonic growled between clenched teeth.

"Where's the girl?" The blue hedgehog demanded glancing around. "If you've hurt her…"

"You're not the one making the threats here." Shadow snapped, sending another blast forward. This one hit Sonic directly in the chest, throwing him backwards to slam against air vent making a dent in the metal. "You and I have a matter of copyright infringement to deal with." Before Sonic could even pick himself up, a fist slammed into his face knocking him backwards. Then a leg came around sharply sending him rocketing over the side of the building.

At the last second he lashed out and grabbed the edge, preventing himself from falling and plummeting to his death. It was a good hundred feet from the top of the building to the ground.

"Man those were quick reactions." He muttered to himself trying to reach for a better hold on the ledge. A moment before he could a foot stamped down on his fingers and his grip on the ledge loosened.

"I'm not merely bragging when I say you've seen nothing yet." Shadow stated, before reaching down and grabbing Sonic's arm; showing surprising strength by holding him over the edge away from any relative safety. "I could simply let you fall to your death, but since I went through all the trouble of luring you here; I intend to have a little fun before I put you in your grave."

The black hedgehog tossed the blue one back over his head and into the floor of the roof causing the mortar to crack in the room below. Then still with a tight grip, he threw Sonic across the roof until he slammed into the door leading down into the building.

"Ow…." He muttered picking himself back up and shaking pieces of wood out of his quills. Shadow was standing before him, an unblinking stare fixed directly on the blue hedgehog; his outline silhouetted by the full moon in the sky. "I won't ask again." Sonic muttered picking himself up. "Where's the girl?" A smile spread across Shadow's face and he stepped aside to reveal the building across the street. A flagpole lanced out from the top and tied to it using the flag as rope was the pink hedgehog he'd saved from the robots yesterday. The flag was wrapped like a rope around her, her arms and legs tied to the pole, suspending her over a hundred feet in the air over the crowds and police squad cars below. She was struggling to free herself and at the same time not to fall to her death. "What did you do to her?!" Sonic demanded and all Shadow did was widen his smile.

"She's just this trap's bait as far as I'm concerned." The black hedgehog replied without looking at her. "Besides, don't insult me by suggesting I'd compromise myself with a lower creature." Sonic tried to race past him towards her, but Shadow's hand lashed out at the last second and grabbed him. "I wish to see how your skills compare to mine, to see if you're worth the trouble. If you win you can have her back."

"I'm not playing some game all night!" Sonic snapped and with his own fast reactions brought his fist sharply up around into Shadow's stomach. The black hedgehog gagged at the blow and sank to his knees. To finish, Sonic cupped his hands and slammed down on his back sending him crashing to the floor.

While he was down, the blue hedgehog took the opportunity and raced towards the edge of the building.

"Fast and strong." Shadow began as he lay on the floor, slowly picking himself up. A glint in his eyes sparking; the anticipation of a challenge burning within him. Finally, the test of his skill he'd been waiting for. "I'm going to enjoy this." With a thick grin, he licked the trail of blood away from his lips.

"Hang on! I'll be right there!" Sonic called out, setting foot on the edge before propelling himself across the gap.

"Hey look!" Someone in the crowd shouted pointing up and the searchlights were instantly shone upwards, revealing the blue hedgehog as he made the jump towards the captive Amy. Grabbing hold of the end of the flag pole, he swung himself around so he had a better grip. Before he could do anything, Shadow came flying in from above with a kick.

The sheer force knocked Sonic off and the two hedgehogs, throwing punches at each other all the while plummeted down towards the street. The two of them crashed into a ledge further down and even kept fighting as they did so, brick dust and fragments flying off to shower the audience below.

A punch connected sharply with Shadows jaw and he flew backwards, over the edge to slam directly into the crowd. They all backed away, forming a thick circle around the black hedgehog as he hoisted himself up.

Without apparently thinking, the police opened fire on him. Shadow simply held his hand up and gestured with a simple flick of his wrist. The squad cars behind them exploded in a thick glow of golden bolts, sending two of them crashing to the floor.

"Hey leave them outta this." Sonic called down, shaking the brick dust out of his fur and adopting a fighting stance on the ledge about. "You're fight's with me remember?" Shadow sneered, before racing forward. The way he moved, Sonic noticed; was very different to his own. While Sonic simply ran, Shadow skated. His leg movements slow and graceful but propelling him to great speeds. Sonics own legs simply became a blur when he moved. "A race then, fine." He muttered to himself, before about facing and using his speed to stay attached to the wall while he moved up it. Shadow did the same and was quickly catching up.

Shadow had never been more excited. Even during his creation, the field tests the scientists put him through; none of them challenged him more than this fight. Finally he had found an opponent that was pushing him to his limits.

Exactly how he was keeping up with a genetically perfect creature such as himself did not enter into the equation. Shadow was simply having too much fun to care.

Amy had been watching the fighting from high above. These… guys, were something else. Both of them could do things no ordinary person could. Their speed, agility and strength were apparently unmatchable; and now to determine the most superior they had turned on each other.

Either one of them could rip her fragile body apart with ease. She was beyond fear now. Suddenly she felt small, very small.

The two hedgehogs were now right along side each other as they soured up the building, passing by windows and ledges at tremendous speed. As soon as Sonic was in the perfect position, he drew back as used the drag to try and strike Shadow with a kick. Shadow ducked under it and fired another of his golden energy bolts. It missed and exploded a section of the wall. Still they kept going, racing up past Amy up onto the ledge just above her.

There they stopped at exactly the same time; their race a tie.

The two of them stopped there simply staring at each other, fists clenched either side. Amy tried to twist herself around to see what was going on, but in the process undid the flag tied around her. She cried out and dropped a good foot before the flag held her again.

"Impressive speed." Shadow muttered to himself watching other hedgehog as he looked down towards the girl. "So, let's see what the limit is." He gestured down and a bolt of golden energy sparked between his fingers, shooting through the air until it struck the flag pole. The metal ripped in two and the pole, with Amy still attached to it began to fall. She cried out as it plummeted towards the ground.

Without a moments hesitation Sonic leapt after it. Using the momentum, he slid down the pole and as soon as he was in perfect position began spinning, his body arching around into a near perfect ball. His quills now spinning at such intense speeds were like a buzz saw and shooting past the girl, sliced through the flag tied around her wrists and ankles.

As he shot overhead, his movement conflicted with the friction in the air and sent a wave of heat washing over her. A moment later, an arm gently picked her up and she was hurtling up instead of down.

Shadow watched as Sonic using the pole as a spring board to catapult himself back up to another rooftop. He hadn't actually expected Sonic to do it. That test had simply been to evaluate his agility. This opponent had agility on parallel to his own and knew how to use that speed effectively.

"Hey are you ok?" The blue hedgehog asked setting Amy down.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She replied still refusing to let go of him. She felt safe near him. Suddenly Shadow kicked her aside, throwing her to the ground and advanced on Sonic with a blur of punches.

Sonic grabbed his opponent's fists and fought back, trying to overpower the black hedgehog. Amy sat up and watched the two of them try to out do the other in strength. With a sudden surge, Sonic gained ground; pushing Shadow back. The dark hedgehog looked alarmed, even more so when Sonic lashed out with a black with his elbow across Shadow's face.

Shadow growled and lashed out in retaliation. Sonic tried to spin out of the way, but the black hedgehog's fingers closed around the fabric of his right sleeve. As Sonic spun away, the shirt tore and part of it came away in Shadow's hand.

The blue hedgehog slid to a stop a short distance away, descending into a fighting stance almost at once. Shadow cast the torn shirt aside and turned to face his opponent, but froze when he laid eyes on the mark.

"Wha…." He began staring at the revealed birthmark on Sonic's shoulder. The blue hedgehog noticed this and covered it up with his hand. "How did you get that mark?" Shadow demanded angrily barring his teeth.

"What's it to you?" Sonic demanded trying to match his demeanour. Shadow was silent for a moment; then he reached over and grabbed the shoulder of his jacket. With a single motion he tore it from around him and cast it aside. Sonic gasped when he saw that in exactly the same position as his own mark was a replica, a complete match line for line.

Eight bright stars with a larger ninth in the middle. The only difference was this was etched in white marks rather than black, standing out against the raven fur.

"This mark was given to me upon my creation." Shadow proclaimed. "This is my icon and my birthright. How dare you wear the same imagery!" Sonic's eyes dared from his own mark to Shadows. There could be no room for doubt. The two birthmarks were identical. "Who gave you that tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo." The blue Hedgehog replied. "This mark had been on my shoulder since I was a child. I was born with it." Shadow snarled angrily in reply.

"Lair!" He snapped raising a hand. "I am the Trigger, not you!" Another bolt of golden energy sparked between his fingers before it lanced across the distance between them. Unable to dodge in time all Sonic could do was watch it fly towards him. Acting on instinct, he held up his right hand like some kind of barrier.

With a brilliant display of light, the attack made contact; but instead of reducing the blue hedgehog to a pile of cinders; the golden sparks seemed to flow around an invisible barrier behind him. "What?!" Shadow demanded, watching as his attack followed past Sonic on either side and then dissipate to nothing. "What is this?" The mark on his arm suddenly started glowing, beams of light lancing up from the markings as if just beneath the skin was the sun itself. The same began to happen on Sonic's own arm.

"What on…argghhh!" Pain sudden lanced through his arm, so unbearable that he collapsed to his knees. Shadow stayed on his feet for long before he descended as well, a hand clutched to his shoulder. Sweat was running down the side of his face and his fangs were barred.

"How are you doing this?" He demanded, holding up his eight on his knees.

"I'm…I'm not doing anything!" Sonic replied, pushing himself back up. The light passing up through the mark was almost blinding and shone like beacons in the night. From the sidelines Amy watched in amazement and shock. The police on the streets below watched the light show and decided it was probably a good idea to call in the military.

Finally the light died down and the pain receded.

"Both of us have genuine marks…" Shadow breathed looking stunned. "But… but Professor what does that mean?" Sonic hoisted himself up and slowly released his hold on his birth mark. "I don't understand, how can this be?" The black hedgehog continued to demand.

Seizing the opportunity, Sonic went on an offensive. First he struck an upper cut across Shadow's chin and then swung his leg back around slamming a kick directly into the hedgehog's stomach. Sent flying backwards Shadow was sent flying into the side of a wall.

Going on, Sonic darted forward and as Shadow stood there stunned; landed a thick succession of punches across the torso. To finish off, the blue hedgehog grabbed his shoulders and tossed him over his shoulder directly into an air vent. It toppled backwards at the impact and Shadow was sent rolling across the ground nearly being trapped underneath the bricks as they came crashing down with the vent. The bricks flew apart and the masonry crumbled, burying Shadow within moments.

"Few…" Sonic remarked, straightening back up and whipping the sweat from his bow. "That was a work out." He blinked remembering the fight had had an audience and turned to the pink hedgehog. "Hey, are you sure you ok?" Amy just stood there too stunned for words, before she nodded mutely. Sonic walked off and knelt down beside her. "Didn't hurt ya did he?" She shook her head, unable to meet those eyes. They were simply far too penetrating and she was an emotional wreck as it was.

Gently he lifted her chin with his forefinger and thumb. Suddenly finding her voice, Amy cried out;

"Behind you!" Sonic snapped around in time to see Shadow flying at him from out of the brick dust. The black and red hedgehog crashed into Sonic at full speed. The two of them sped across the ground before Shadow pinned him to the far wall. Sonic tried to struggle free but Shadow slammed his arm across the blue hedgehog's neck as if he was trying to suffocate him.

Without a word Shadow drew his other arm back and slammed a fist across his Sonic's face, then drew it back sharply with another strike. This he repeated several times until smashing his knee into Sonic's stomach.

"Idiot." He hissed, before grabbing Sonic around the throat and lifting him into the air. "Never turn your back on an opponent until you're sure he's dead." The fingers tightened around the throat to the point where the air was being cut off. Sonic gasped put, trying to draw breath but the grip was far too tight. "Why don't I show you how it's done?"

"Stop it!" Amy cried out but Shadow wasn't paying a blind bit of notice. "I said stop it!!" Without a second thought she picked up the biggest stone the biggest stone around her and tossed it right at him with as much force as she could. Not expecting it, Shadow staggered forward dropping Sonic; who fell to the floor gasping for breath.

Feeling a red mark on the back of his head, the black and red hedgehog about faced with golden bolts already burning like a lamp between his fingers.

"Now that was incredibly stupid." Before he could fire it, Sonic brought his leg around sharply and knocked Shadow's feet out from under him.

"Thanks for the offer earlier, but how about I show you a thing or two instead?" The blue hedgehog asked, before slamming his forehead into Shadow's face. Staggering back, Shadow felt himself wide open for a blurred offensive. Sonic attacked without sparing a moment for hesitation, striking his opponent across the chest with several punches within the space of a few moments before landed a kick across the shoulder.

To finish up, he curved his entire body around before spinning on the spot gathering speed. Once enough momentum had been gathered he rocketed forward. Shadow saw him coming and held out his hands, forming a magnetic shield around himself by controlling the energy flow in his body and expelling it out to form a defensive barrier. The two forces collided and sparks began to fly up high into the air.

The militaries scout choppers, now in the vicinity saw the impressive light show and soured towards it.

Shadow began to slip backwards as the force was becoming more than he could handle, but with anger fuelling him he began to push back. Sonic kept pouring on more of his own strength, pushing harder to try and breakthrough Shadow's defences. The very ground beneath them seemed to shake in response to the energies being exchanged. Amy watched in awe as the sparks began flying. Something had to give.

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light and both of them were sent flying backwards, Shadow slamming to the floor and Sonic spinning backwards until he crashed into the side of the ledge.

"A draw?" Shadow demanded of the universe angrily, snarling up at the sky as he heaved himself up. "I can't accept that!" He thumped a fist down on the ground, snarled angrily with blood running from his lips.

Sonic picked himself back up, now covered in his own cuts and bruises. His quills were jagged and all out of place and a complete mess. He was breathing hard and appeared to be nearing physical exhaustion.

Shadow heaved himself up and prepared himself for another clash.

Suddenly the loud whirring of chopper blades filled the air and several of the militaries attack air craft came hovering up over the edge of the building. Searchlights on the underside scanned the rooftop until they locked onto Sonic, Shadow and Amy respectively. Ropes were flung out either side and instantly men in anti-projectile armour, armed with large automatic rifles and defended with bullet proof shields began to descend one after the other. They all had _**G.U.N **_printed on the front of their uniforms.

More of them came bursting out from the doorway leading into the building and within moments their numbers bolstered to over twenty, all of them quickly forming a circle around them.

"All three of you freeze." A voice through a loud speaker from one of the choppers called out. "Move a muscle and your dead." Sonic glanced around. There had to be dozens of automatics, already cocked and waiting to fire. Most of them were aimed at either him or Shadow, but a good deal were directed at Amy. "Surrender and you will not be harmed."

Amy tried to say something and one of the soldiers kicked her own, forcing her away from them.

"We said don't move you furry freak!" He snarled pointing a gun at her head. The girl was too terrified to move.

"Hang on, we didn't do anything wrong." Sonic called up. "You can't arrest us."

"They're not planning on arresting you." Shadow remarked without giving him a glance. "They're trying to take you into permanent military custody. Both you and the girl will be transported to one of their bases and put through torture disguised as interrogation. Given extensive physical tests before you're locked away inside a glass jar for their scientists to poke and prod you for the rest of your days."

"How do you know that?" The blue hedgehog demanded. Shadow simply gestured to the arm that had his mark on it. Below that were a series of scars running all the way down to the hand, barely hidden by the fur. All of them looked like someone had taken a butchers knife to him and he'd held up his arm to try and defend himself.

"Because they've already done it to me." He replied and a sudden sadistic smirk started to pass over his face. Bolts of golden energy began to spark between the fingers on both hands. "And dozens more taken from the ARK!" Blood shot eyes, burning with hate, turned to face the choppers. Behind them, Sonic caught a glimpse of something he would rather not have. Pain and anguish unlike anything he'd seen before was boiling to a pitch inside, barely kept inside by a thin skin.

Without a single moments hesitation, Shadow drew his arm sharply across and as he did so, golden bolts sparked through the air and slammed into the choppers one by one causing them to explode. Fire arching across the sky as their flaming wrecks began to fall towards the ground. The soldiers turned to look and Shadow used the distraction to charge into them; bodies of men going flying as he did.

The bullets started flying and acting on instinct alone, Sonic dived through the streams of projectiles; scooped the girl up in his arms and made a bid to escape.

Feeling those arms around her Amy felt all the fear melt away and the wind whipping through her quills seemed to blow away any of the threats the night held. Unwilling to ever let go, she clung to him with renewed strength.

Shadow sent men flying with single punches and kicks, rejoicing in tearing apart anyone stupid enough to wear the G.U.N icon on their clothes.

"You can disguise your actions behind the guise of protection if you want!" He snarled at them, not slackening his onslaught for a moment. "But I can see all you are interested in is control!" He grabbed one of them by the throat and lifted him close.

"Tell your leaders; I will come for them. I will come for them through blood and death, an avenging angel in the night and my visit will not be kind!" He tossed him aside and caught a glimpse of a blue object darting over the rooftops away, being chased by several more choppers.

While he was not happy to let such a brilliant opponent slip away, the events that had just transpired had soured his mood for a challenge. There wasn't any point in pursuing him tonight. "And don't you think this is over either." He snarled, before skating off himself.

On a far rooftop, observing the sudden chaos through a camera lens were two reptilians. One was a Crocodile and the other was a Chameleon. The crocodile had leaf green scales and an almost golden underside. His eyes were mostly complete black but had a thin orange outline. A thick golden chain hung around his neck with personal engraved words on each link. A pair of walkman headphones sat clamped to the fat neck, barely hidden by a large trench coat.

The chameleon was the same one who had been observing Sonic before. The two of them had been watching the entire fight.

The crocodile finally gave out the impressed whistle he had been holding in.

"Man, that was a once in a life time fight. I'm glad I got front row seats." He remarked folding his arms. "Tell me you got all that?" The chameleon standing behind him was just there, completely comatose. He was standing very still with his mouth hung open and the digital camera on one shoulder. "Hey, ground control to Espio!" The crocodile clicked his fingers several times in front of the other reptilian. He blinked to recover his composure.

"What.. .er right, I got it." He stammered, flipping open the viewer and playing back the footage. The entire fight had been recorded and they had even managed to get some good angles. As the two hedgehogs on the playback exchanged blows in the slowed down version, the entire image shook.

"This is gold Espio. Digital gold." The crocodile muttered; a greedy glint in his eye. Rubbing his hands together with relish. "Come on; let's get this to our client. I smell a big fat pay check coming our way." The chameleon nodded.

* * *

--

"I'm sorry." The blue hedgehog whispered to the girl as her arms wrapped around his shoulders, holding him close to her as he ran; darting across the huge expanses between the buildings with ease. The military choppers were close behind, the search lights beaming out after them. "It was me he was after, it's my fault he went for you." Without a word she hugged him closer.

"I don't care." Amy whispered into his ear. Sonic blushed, slowing down for a moment before regaining speed. "I'm Amy." She pulled back so he could see her face. The blue hedgehog paused, before a smile spread over his lips.

"I'm Sonic." He replied, winking at her. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

* * *

-

His name was Ivo Robotnik.

His parents had been part of the Federation's space colonisation program aboard the legendary colony ARK. He had been born on the orbiting station and being a protégé to the intellectually gifted Robotnik family he was expected to carry on their great tradition and be a great scientist.

His grandfather had had great hopes for him.

Then the 'incident' happened aboard the colony and Ivo was only one of the Robotnik's to escape and return to the planet's surface.

It was on that day, taking the technology his family had worked their entire lives on, that he carved his empire out of the heart of this corrupt and tyrannical Federation.

He became the renowned figure; Doctor Robotnik.

Ragnarok had slowed his progress down but ultimately it had proven his policy correct. The Federation was a corrupt government more interested in self preservation than the needs and lives of its citizenry or even the well being of the world itself.

They held their population captive with tyranny disguised as security and would blow up half the world rather than upset that status quo.

The Automatons dropped the prisoner at his feet, the heavy shackles around her arms and legs pinning her to the floor. Her white fur was dirty and her uniform had been removed for study. She had been given the simple clothes Robotnik gave to any who broke the law in his territory. Simple grey pants and shirt with a serial number printed on the side.

"I wanted to congratulate you personally." He started, folding his arms behind his back and pacing up and down. The prisoner simply folded his leathery wings around her arms in a protective way, keeping her head down with the two robots standing either side. "You are the first spy the Federation has sent into my lands that got anywhere close to the data they were sent to retrieve. Most others were shot to pieces miles from their objectives."

The Doctor managed a very grim smile.

"You must be highly skilled."

There was a loud clunking sound from beneath the floor and a small round trapdoor opened. A metallic pedestal rose up out of it directly before Robotnik, upon the top of which was a rectangular iron container. "The current penalty for espionage in the Empire is death by firing squad." He carried on, lifting the box up and dismissing the pedestal.

With good reason the prisoner looked nervous.

"However, I am a reasonable man and I do not wish to do away with such obvious talent when it can be put to good use. Perhaps we can make a deal of some kind." He walked over and then knelt down. She looked straight up at him, her green eyes filled with fear but more than a hint of anger. "I am in need of a skilled agent, one to help me infiltrate the Federation's infrastructure and bring them down from the inside."

"Why don't you get your hedgehog laky to do it?" She asked abruptly. Robotnik pulled an exaggerated face.

"Alas, Shadow barely grasps the concept of subtly. It's more his style to go straight for an enemies throat. He's the hedgehog I send in when raw power is called for." He presented and the box to her and placed his hand on the lid. "No, what I need from you is stealth, the ability to merge with the shadows and strike without being seen." As he spoke, he pulled the lid open and let her gaze upon the contents.

The box was filled to the brim with shiny gemstones, rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds; stones of rare and exquisite quality in abundance.

Robotnik smiled, seeing the spark of greed already growing in the prisoner's eyes. "And of course, I'd not dream of using your services without 'suitable compensation'. Say… a box of these a week?" The spark was fanned into a raging inferno. "So…what you do say?"

Before the prisoner could answer, a holographic message was incoming. A point of light sparked in the air for a brief moment before a holo-screen appeared; Shadow's face staring down at the Doctor with his dark red eyes.

"This is Shadow calling Robotnik." He started.

"Ah, how did the hunt go dear boy?" Robotnik asked. "Shall I have a plague prepared for that head you promised to bring back? Is that blue hedgehog G.U.N personnel?"

"Not a chance." Shadow replied. "More likely a freelancer." He paused for a moment. "He had the mark."

"The mark?" Robotnik repeated raising an eyebrow. A puzzled expression passed over his face. "Are you certain?" Shadow just nodded once. The doctor looked thoughtful for a brief moment. "Well, that certainly makes for a more interesting game. If you both have the mark…I might need to consult the Necronomicon."

"Another thing." Shadow began. "I could sense it all over him during the fight. Chaos Energy." The Doctor suddenly looked very interested. "He had been in contact with a Chaos Emerald and recently."

"Oh how the plot thickens." The sneer on Robotnik's face was unmistakable. "Are you're sure you can't follow him tonight? He may lead us to it." Shadow shook his head.

"Too many military units in the area. The trails will have gone cold by now besides. I'm returning to imperial territory." The Doctor managed a deep frown.

"Negative. Remain where you are. Finding this hedgehog again is a top priority. I'm assigning a partner to help you."

"Partner?" Shadow repeated in disgust. "I already told you don't need not stinking robot to do my dirty work."

"Just as well I'm not sending a robot then. I'm deploying my newest agent, skilled and dependable." The Doctor looked back over his shoulder. "That is if you want the job?"

"Want it?" The prisoner asked with a widening sadistic smile. "For this many jewels I'd sign the dotted line with my own mothers blood. I'm yours!"

The look of intense satisfaction on the Doctor's face was absolute.

"Very well then. Shadow, you and my new agent Rouge are to find this hedgehog at once.

Track him down, learn what you can. Find his emerald and if he becomes an inconvenience, you have authorization to terminate him."

--

--

--

Authors note: This is just a show piece. I hope you enjoyed it. I don't actually have the rest of this written. It's the opening scene for the Comic series, 'Sonic Unbound' pf which I'm the writer. In any case, you can view the comic and related material itself at DeviantArt. You can find the link at my own DA page. The journal entry will lead you there. If you want to find out what happens after this… It'll be in the comic. Occasionally when there are updates with fanfiction in them, I will post them here but you'll still have to view the comics to fill in the gaps.


	5. Chapter 5

Eve, the thriving Metropalis that was the centre for the Imperial force, was divided into dozens of districts. Each one sealed off from another by a thick web of giant concrete walls with security checks leading back and forth. Passage between these different districts was strictly limited. Only workers with permits and the proper documents would be allowed through and even then only at certain times of the day.

Despite the restricts on freedom of movement, the citizenry of the capital had access to pretty much all of the luxuries they had enjoyed before Robotnik took the city and remade it as his seat of power. They had warm housing, plenty of food and the Doctor's technology raised living conditions.

At least for those who could afford it.

The Doctor's taxation rate was ridiculously high. His empire was squeezing the money out of anyone it could. Those who weren't wealthy only just managed to scrap by; some however plunging further and further into debt through the games in the Casino district.

More and more were falling below the poverty line and once that happened, when they could no longer afford their taxes, they were forced out of their homes and into the streets. Their belongings confiscated, becoming Imperial property and whatever remaining assets were seized.

Christina's father, her only remaining parent, struggled desperately for years to keep them fed and Robotnik's taxman happy. Eventually however he succumbed and could afford to pay no more. That was when the brokers came.

They forced them out into the streets with only the food they could carry to take with them.

Christina's father lasted for only two years. Too old to survive the cold on the streets he succumbed. Christina wasn't even able to give him a proper burial.

The first few years on the street were tough but she had been young enough to adapt. She learned how to steal and how to use the twisting alleyways and tunnels of the slums to escape pursuit.

It was a bleak exist with little hope of improvement, yet it was all she had. She became part of an underground movement that existed within the city, operating to supply the hungry on the streets with food and blankets. Such action would have easily earned the death penalty, or possibly even worse.

Christina however wanted to go further. She wanted to strike at the fat, wealthy men who only supported Robotnik because he allowed them to live like nobles. She wanted to take from them the food and necessities that they had stolen from the people.

Most of all she wanted to bring down the tyrant who had driven her father to his death.

His ambition frightened the others. They were simply content to feed their hungry. They did not want to bring the Doctor's wrath down upon them. They had all heard the stories and rumors of what happened to those dragged inside the Scrap Brain Citadel.

One day while scavenging through an abandoned building north east of the Delta Housing district, Christina came across a tangled nest of equipment. Most of it was crushed but a good enough portion of it was still operation and to her amazement, through some fluke, it was still attached to the cities power grid. After studying it, she guessed it to be a computer; an office one from the days before the take over. By today's technological standard it was far outdated but enough to work with.

Operating technology not owned and copyrighted by the Imperial production companies was illegal but Christina didn't care what laws the Doctor past.

It took a while but with some help she was able to get the computer online. They managed to find a man who, before the take over, had been a computer programmer and engineer. They had him set it up and get it operational and Christina was given the honor of being the first to use it.

At first the computer didn't seem that useful for those simply living on the streets but all too quickly Christina realized its full potential. Its connection to the old information web was still active.

The web had been disabled when Robotnik took over and its usage banned. But however, through the will of god it seemed, this one had escaped notice.

"It's too dangerous! Turn it off before we trip some alarm!" Hawk, one of their oldest, stated looking trepid.

"And loose this opportunity?" Christina asked him, brushing some of her matted dirty brown hair out of his face. "This is the first time in years people within the Empire can contact the outside world.

We can get a message to the Federation!"

"And what would we tell them?" Hawk asked almost angrily. "Oh please help us. The Doctor is a nasty guy? If the Federation was going to save us they'd have done it long ago."

"Agh that's precisely the attitude that's keeping us like this!" Her chocolate eyes were alive with anger. "As long as we believe the Doctor is invincible, then he is! We've given him our minds without a fight." She pushed Hawk aside and turned her attention back to the screen.

"That's all very well for you to say." Someone else muttered. "You haven't gone up against the Automatons."

She ignored them and carried on, following the directions on screen to open up the web.

The next few minute existed as a blur in her mind from that point on. She would never be able to fully remember the details. The only memory she would have would be a mix of emotion.

She did it… she made contact.

That had been two years ago now. Since then a new emotion had been given birth within her. An emotion that neither she nor anyone else on the streets had in abundance.

Hope.

It was midnight by the time Christina came across her contact at the rendezvous point. He was half dead, ridden with charged particle burns and a broken leg. The furry Badger had lost a lot of blood, most of it on the floor around him. He didn't last long. But before he died he managed to gather the strength to report his findings and deliver the documents he had been able to steal.

The resistance's worst fears had been confirmed. A large shipment of refined minerals was being delivered to the heavily fortified Chemical plant. The defended research facility was south across the Ivo river and the main centre of technological research for the Empire.

Being a scientist, the Doctor himself spent more time there than in his palace while in the city.

According to his last report, these minerals came a unique kind that were only recently being mined from the mountains in the north and only had one scientific usage.

"Chaos Energy!" The exclamation went around the gathering of resistance agents and operatives like a tidal wave.

"These show it alright." Christina muttered, laying out the papers on the make shift desk and shifting through them. "Large quantities of Delaphium-4. That mineral's only been used in experiments in Chaos Energy."

"God almighty!" Someone muttered. "I could almost live with fusion reactors within exploding distance but…Chaos Energy?!"

It was almost like urban folklore, past down from the Generation who remembered the times when the city was run by the Federation. They remembered an incident long ago when the Federation tried to build a working Chaos Energy generator of their own on some Space Colony.

The resulting accident had been a disaster topped only by Ragnarok itself.

"Then it's just as Miles says." Christina sighed. "Chaos Energy….Chaos Emerald." She looked up at them all. "I'm going to leave. I have to go to Miles in person."

"In…" Hawk started by stopped with wide eyes. "In….person?!"

"Across the Imperial front lines? Through the security?"

"You'll never make it ten blocks."

Christina managed a smile.

"By myself? Probably not." She glanced over her shoulder at the computer, the only known outlet for unedited information within the entire city and quite possibly the entire Empire. "But I will have help."

* * *

--

An emergency meeting of the commanding generals had been called. As a result, security around the G.U.N stronghold, their main headquarters, was near air tight. The G.U.N stronghold had the appearance of not being overly large. From the outside it appeared to be little more than a collection of small buildings surrounded by thick concrete walls and barbed wire.

This however was an illusion; most of the complex itself was underground with only depots, runways and watch towers being on the surface. A thick concrete wall spanned the entire perimeter, curling barbed wire running along the top to discourage anyone who might think of climbing it.

General Blake, commander of ground combat forces was the first to arrive escorted by several of his best Battle Boars; Giant tank like mechs that had been developed, like the other robots, after studying the remains of the Doctor's technology, double turreted mechanical giants that shook the ground as they moved.

Coordinator of the air force, General Okida made an impressive entrance in a chopper along with six Nidhogg mech's as escort, turtle shaped flying machines equipped with a prototype charged particle cannon.

The naval commander; General Saddler arrived by car with two squadrons of Troopers either side. As soon as the three generals were within the stronghold grounds, the forces they had brought with them began patrolling the grounds; the ordinary soldiers keeping the thick tide of the reporters and other members of the press outside the main gates.

The overall Commander, Jericho Mandarin himself, was already sitting at the head of the meeting table when the generals and their subordinates were shown in. He was a human well into his sixties, silvery grey hair cut into a stand flat military style along the back of his head; face adorn with wrinkles. He wore the standard uniform for high ranking officers, decorated with all the trimmings such as golden shoulder ends and a thick row of coloured stripes down the left hand side of his jacket.

Once the doors shut behind the attendees of the meeting, the commander's eyes opened and the illusion of an old man was dropped; the very essence of power and strength radiating out from him in waves. His eyes were different, one sea blue and the other a dark brown. A scar was carved on his cheek, a strange spiky pattern that did not look like an ordinary shaving cut.

He watched each of them take a seat around the table with an unblinking stare.

General Saddler was middle aged, with fiery red hair and a large moustache. He was quite short with a well developed muscular build under his uniform. He was the most obscure general. None knew him well accept within the political arena.

Okida, the air force General, was the only furry to be promoted to that rank. While G.U.N was a mostly human organisation, a few furries could be found within the army at various levels. Okida was the highest ranking one and commanded a lot of respect amongst their numbers.

He was a bat, with chestnut brown fur and flaxen yellow eyes. His wings were long and curved down either side to his calves, folded back against him to remain out of the way.

General Blake was by far the strangest of them all. His hair was long and had a strange, blue pigmentation. His cheekbones were quite well defined and his eyes sharp and hard. A long but thin beard trailed from his chin, ending in the middle of his chest.

He was the most secretive of the Generals but wielded influence.

For a few moments after they were all seated. All of them had their eyes on their commander, waiting for him to say something. Most of them were uncertain as to what he would say.

There were many issues. Some were more concerned with disappearance of their agent into Imperial territory and others hoping to talk about the development of their robotics defence systems.

Mandarin simply reached up with one hand and clicked his fingers. The lights in the room darkened and the small device in the centre of the table protected a green tinted image up for them to see.

"What you're seeing is footage taken last night of the incident in Central." The commander stated. The three generals watched as two hedgehogs', one blue, one black; exchanged blows at tremendous speed on a rooftop. Both of them were moving far too fast for either of them to be observed in great detail.

"These enemy agents should have been shot on sight." General Blake stated without even the tiniest hint of emotion in his voice.

"I thought the Robotnik only had one agent, Blake." Okida remarked in reply, raising a finger from his crossed arms.

"Perhaps then that is how the agents is able to hit so many of our installations then?" Blake offered without looking at him. "There is more than one."

"Enough." Mandarin cut off their argument by raising his voice only slightly. "All evidence suggests that one of these two is the Imperial Agent we've been searching for." All those present said nothing for a few moments. "The civilian population of the city is an uproar about this latest incursion from Imperial territory. The press are demanding an official statement from the military. Thus far we've been able to stall, but it is in our best interest to come up with an effective solution to this problem as swiftly as possible."

"I'm more interested in how this incursion happened rather than our public relations status." Okida replied, brushing some strands of chestnut brown head fur out of his eyes.

"As am I." The commander stated, turning to look at him. "Is the S-Team ready for deployment?"

The bat nodded.

"Yes Sir. Our pilots have all cleared their training and their mechs are currently undergoing the final safety checks."

Mandarin managed something close to a smile.

."We don't know enough about this situation with the blue hedgehog yet to make any sort of intelligent judgement. Which is why these are your orders." The commander turned to face Okida and look him directly in the face. "I want you to find out as much as you can about the blue hedgehog.

Capture if necessary but I want him unharmed for now."

General Blake, your orders are to pursue the remaining five emeralds and add them those we already have; I don't care how you do it, just find them."

"Sir." The general replied with a brief nod of his head.

"You have your orders: dismissed!"

* * *

-

Even after waking up, all Amy did was lie in bed staring up at the ceiling. When her eyes first opened into the sunlight peeking through the blinds, she thought the fantastic images flooding into her mind were nothing but the residual of a dream. It was only when she remembered she hadn't any blinds that she realized where she was.

Looking around, she found herself not in the bedroom of her apartment. The layout was different from her familiar surroundings, the smells were different and a ceiling fan hung above.

Amy lay there, piecing together everything that had happened last night to her. She remembered the kidnapping, witnessing that unbelievable fight and then the rescue. It was then her memories turned blank as she fell asleep in her saviours arms.

So that blue hedgehog hadn't just been a bi-product of her imagination., her subconscious putting form to the vague concept of the 'prince charming'? Still, all of it when put together seemed so incredible that how could she be sure it wasn't all her own warped dream?

Eventually she slid herself out of the bed; finding her own clothes from last night still on. Through the blind she could see a city she did not recognise.

There were tall buildings made out red stone and they had a rustic feeling to them.

This was not Central…

The smell of coffee was thick in the air, along with several other fragrances she knew only too well. Her stomach growled, reminding her that despite the unbelievable chaos that had just entered her life she still needed food.

The muffled sound of voices was coming from beyond the door. Amy opened it and stepped out onto a landing outside. There were several doors leading to other rooms along the way, all of them shut.

"It's the only request I've been making Sonic. All I want is for you to keep your head down until they get it through their skulls that you're not the one they're after." A voice remarked. It was coming from downstairs, from a doorway leading into another room at the bottom.

Quietly the pink hedgehog descended and found the only thing in her way being a hanging curtain of beads. Through them she could a kitchen type area, a sink and faucet were directly in front of her; with few cabinets either side. A table was nearby and several people were seated around it.

One of them was a human, an old man probably about sixty or older; with silvery grey hair and a white lab coat. He had his back to her and she couldn't see his face, only the coffee mug in one hand. Sitting next to him was an furry, a fox with golden orange fur with sea blue eyes and a pair of tails instead of one.

"Look this isn't my fault." At the far end of the table was the blue hedgehog she remembered all too well.

"Whatever, your artist rendering was still broadcast on the morning news." The fox rasped. The blue hedgehog's ears twitched for a moment and he glanced in her direction. Smiling he waved her over.

"Come on in, we're just about to eat." Amy hesitated as the others turned to look at her through the blind. Slowly she pushed her way inside.

"Good to see you up and about miss." The old human stated, lifting his coffee mug politely. How that she could see his face she could see his face was wrinkled with age. He had violet eyes and thick eyebrows. "You didn't look particularly well last night."

"I… I'm ok." She started, sitting down in the vacant chair. "I'm sorry…but… who are you people?"

"So sorry. Sonic you've met already." The human started, gesturing to the blue hedgehog who winked at her. "My name is Prof. Charles Thorndyke but you can just call me Chuck."

"Pleased to met you.. I guess." Amy replied with a raised eyebrow.

"This is Miles Prower." He added, half glancing towards the young fox who looked decidedly uncomfortable in her presence. He was at 'that-age' where the presence of any girl made him nervous.

She hardly noticed his face. Her attention was fixed on the physical mutation he had been born with. It was rare even amongst Furry's to find a being with two tails. "We just call him Tails."

"Yeah I see." Amy muttered trying not to stare. Noticing her scrutiny, Tails tucked his two tails behind him out of sight. "Hello."

"Yallow." He said so quickly it was muffled.

"Huh… adolescence." Sonic coughed, rolling his eyes.

"So just where am I?"

"Westopolis, wouldn't you believe it?" Chuck stated rolling his eyes.

"West…" Amy repeated half in disbelief. Tails flipped a small remote out of his pocket and pressed the button. The blinds covering the wall behind him pulled themselves up with a mechanical hum. One look at the city outside was enough to confirm it. The buildings were all unfamiliar and a large billboard on top of a roof said; 'Downtown Westopolis for best Used Car Deals.'

The clouds were darkening grey and the first faint flakes of snow were beginning to cascade down from the sky.

It wasn't the right time of year for snow in Central. She _**had **_to be far further north.

"But… Westopolis is miles away from Central City." She stammered trying to throw some reason into the chaos. There was no way a trip like that could be made in one night.

"You're Welcome. You're talking to the guy who runs lengths like that for some light exercise." Sonic stated in a bragging tone and a wide smug grin.

"I don't understand. Just what are you all doing here?" She asked.

"Research." Tails replied quickly. "But we keep getting harassed by G.U.N."

"Research?" She repeated. "What kind of research?"

"Research about the legend of the Floating Island." Tails explained now looking enthusiastic and instantly Amy had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out laughing. When she noticed that no one else shared her mirth she managed to control herself. "I'm perfectly serious." Tails continued looking slightly hurt.

"You're going to have to take his word on a few things." Chuck added with a sigh running his fingers through his hair. "I'm a big enough sceptic to satisfy anyone, but what I've seen lately…" Sonic looked smug and let his sun glasses slid down his nose. Tails coughed and waiting for them to put his attention back to him.

"I've always been fascinated by the stories of Laputa." He carried on. "Angel Island, Isle of the Heavens and the Flying Sanctuary; there are stories from all over the world that tell of it.

After studying the ancient texts left an ancient civilisation in some ruins Chuck and I discovered in Maya a few years ago, I've come to the conclusion that these myths are all describing an actual place." Amy sat there listening, reminding herself over and over again to keep an open mind. After all, she'd seen enough in the last day and a half to leave her perhaps more accepting than other people. Still, she couldn't help but brand the fox as a dreamer.

"So…you guys are looking for the Floating Island?" She asked looking around. Sonic just shrugged. "How do you even know it exists?" Her question seemed to catch Sonic off guard. The blue hedgehog hesitated, looking unsure of himself. His eyes darted over the rim of his sunglasses towards Tails, silently pleading with him for assistance.

"First, I know it's real because it's what I've known since I was a toddler." The fox replied looking her in the eyes. There wasn't a single waver of doubt in them. He meant exactly what he said. "Second, I have proof." He almost seemed to float across the table towards the side.

He retrieved a large box from the side and returned with it. It was an ordinary jewellery box, but became less than ordinary when he opened it. Inside was the biggest gem stone Amy had ever seen first hand. It was the larger than the size of her fist and glowing with soft light, cut into the shape of a diamond. The colour of its' surface was deep violet and the glow match that, bathing everything in front of it in purple tinted light.

Amy knew enough of the legends to put a name to this. But she refused to utter it at first, unable to accept that the jewels of folklore were real. More than real, one was right in front of her.

"I'm not entirely sure what this thing is." Chuck began still looking uncomfortable in the jewels presence. "But for the moment at least, you may as well call it a Chaos Emerald."

Amy sat there in utter silence, even long after Tails had closed the box denying her sight of that fantastic jewel. It was only when she realized Sonic was snapping his fingers in front of her that she came back to reality. She blinked several times and lurched forward.

"That… that thing is incredible… it's really a Chaos Emerald?"

"Impressive little sparkler isn't it?" Sonic asked leaning back in his chair. "Tails found out it was being kept by some rich collector of gemstones in Central who didn't even know what he had right under his nose."

"You guys bought that?" Amy asked looking stunned "It must have cost you the Earth." Chuck laughed and folded his arms.

"It wasn't for sale." He cast a glare at Tails. "Was it?" The young fox shook his head, his ears drooping either side as he looked very sheepish.

"You STOLE it?" She asked looking around in a mixture of awe and horror.

"Liberated." Sonic corrected her trying to maintain the most innocent expression he could given the circumstances. "We didn't steal it; we LIBERATED it from unworthy ownership." Amy made a cross face and stared him down. "Ok, we ripped it off!" The cross look persisted and she emphasized it by placing her hands on her hips. "Alright, alright, alright already! _**'I'**_ ripped it off, are you all happy now?!"

"I know I am." Tails muttered, thankful to be off the hook.

"No wonder the police are after you." The pink hedgehog began almost to herself as she spoke. "You're a bunch of jewel thieves."

"First; as far as the cops are concerned, the guy simply misplaced the jewel. No one sees me when I fly past." His tone was bragging. "Second, I ain't no thief. I will give it back….just as soon as we find the other six."

"And where will they be? Bank vaults, jewellery shores or perhaps even inside the Gun reserve?"

"G.U.N reserve sounds more likely." Sonic admitted looking thoughtful for a moment. Amy slumped back into her chair.

"Well if they aren't after you for the theft why are they chasing you?" The blue hedgehog laughed once.

"Oh you're going to love this. They've mixed me up with the guy who kidnapped you last night." Amy paused to listen. "I mean come on really, how can you get me confused with that fashion nightmare?"

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Tails asked looking up. "What did this doppelganger look like?"

"Almost exactly like him." Amy replied before Sonic could. "I saw them both last night and their moves were almost identical. And their looks are startling enough. The two of them could very well be brothers." Sonic raised an eyebrow and cast a sceptical sideways glance her way.

"Please, don't insult me." He muttered.

"Don't suppose he left a home address?" Tails asked, not really expecting much in the way of an answer.

"He said his name was Shadow." Sonic replied pushing his sunglasses back up his nose. "That's all." Then he sat forward rigidly nearly head butting the young fox. "You should have seen him last night! The guy was hurling the golden bolts of Zeus or something! My other clothes still have scorch marks on them."

"Energy manipulation?" Chuck asked looking thoughtful.

"How the hell should I know? All I got was that he's able to doing a lot of damage with those things." The hedgehog rubbed his back on the sore spot. "I put emphasis on a LOT."

"They were so much alike it was freaky." Amy continued. "I mean, the same eyes, the same height, almost the same abilities and even…" Sonic suddenly knew exactly what she was going to say next and stood up. "…the same mark on their shoulders." He was too late to stop her. Tails and Chuck sat there in utter silence. The young fox's mouth was hung open in startled awe. Sonic just slumped his shoulders. He would much rather avoid this conversation.

"Sonic…" Tails began slowly.

"Oh alright, yes he had exactly the same mark." He pulled up his sleeve and revealed the mark of the stars on his shoulder. "Only his was marked in white instead of black." Tails looked more confused than upset with Sonic for trying to omit this detail.

"But that's not part of the legend, it doesn't make any sense."

"Oh my dear Tails, have we come up against something that actually DOESN'T fit in with folklore?" Chuck asked with a sly expression. "Think now you've been slightly hasty in your assumptions?" There was a moment of silence. "Tails, I know you're a romanticist about folklore but I also know you're not an idiot. Perhaps its time you told us what this is REALLY all about." The human looked back over his shoulder towards the door. "All of us."

There was a loud coughing sound from behind the door when the ease droppers realised that they were discovered. The three of them pushed their way in with nervous smiles on their faces.

They were all mobians. One was a Polar bear with golden fur and a thick green scarf around his neck. The second was a common duck, his feathers angled into a stylish quiff on the top of his head, a red bandana loudly tied around his neck.

The third was a hybrid of a Hare and a Rabbit, having characteristics of both. All of them were wearing overalls smeared with oil and grease. Judging from the tool bags attached to their waists, Amy guessed they were mechanics.

"I don't think we're going to wriggle our way out of this one." Sonic commented dryly. "I think its time to fess up."

Tails looked slightly alarmed.

"Hey they're in on it now…. Might as well make the best of it." The blue hedgehog added with a short shrug. Looking nervous, Tails stammered incoherently for a moment before drawing in a deep breath. He held it for a moment and then let it go in a long sigh.

"Alright." He started. "Bean, Bark, Hare; come in and close the door behind you." The three mechanics did as they were told and took up some of the empty seats at the table.

"Ok boss, we've been patient so far so…tell us already. What's the deal?" The Rabbit asked, leaning forward with both elbows on the table.

"I didn't want to get any of you involved." The fox muttered, lifting the Emerald up and looking at it. "But since you insist…Sonic and I have been searching for these Emeralds not merely because they're a part of folklore.

It's a race… to keep these Emeralds and their power out of the hands of those who would use them for selfish desires."

"That's still part of the legend." Chuck told him sternly, not sounding impressed. "The myth warns about those of evil obtaining the Emeralds."

"Our enemy in this is specific." The fox replied. "Sonic and I are members of an organisation, whose name I'm afraid I can not mention. Through them I became aware of one of the Robotnik's operations." Tails placed the Emerald down on the table. "The Doctor himself is after the Emeralds. I'm certain he's out to harness the power of all eight Chaos Emeralds, to use their power to destroy the Federation and conquer the world."

He looked up sternly towards the gazes around him.

"I know what I am saying is hard to believe but if he lays his hands on these Emeralds, he'll be able to hold the entire planet for ransom."

"And so that's where we come in." Sonic continued with a smug smile, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded behind his head.

"You're trying to collect them before the Robotnik does." Amy stated suddenly realizing the obvious.

Tails nodded.

"More than that. Through my contacts I learned much about the daily lives of those who live under the Empire iron fist.

It's a fascist dictatorship. People there are scavenging for whatever scraps of food they can gather while the rich, those able to afford the taxation, live in luxury. "

"So you figure that if you gather these Emeralds then you'll have the Power to overthrow the Doctor, is that it?" Bark, the large polar bear asked.

"I know it sounds far fetched, even impossible." Tails admitted. "Especially for us… who have the luxury of living outside of Robotnik's control. G.U.N isn't that totalitarian…yet.

That's why this war has to end soon, before we're all enslaved. Whichever dictator we take really doesn't matter. Robotnik or G.U.N, it's all the same."

Chuck sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I never realized how much of a philosopher you could be." He muttered, tracing a hand over his face.

"G.U.N is after these Emeralds as well." Tails informed him. "They're being quiet about it but they're definitely searching for them. I suppose they intend the same thing as the Doctor. Neither of them should have all eight… it would spell disaster for generations.

I can't expect or ask any of you to help us do this. All I need from you is to keep quiet about this… tell no one. If you're suspected of being involved in this… you could disappear in the night in the back of a black van."

Bean, the green duck, swallowed hard.

"I can assure you I will not say a word." Chuck told him. "As I can't think of anyone besides yourself who would believe the story."

"Chuck… go back to Nelson and Lindsey." Tails told him. "Pretend this never happened."

"And what kind of friend would that make me?" The old man asked with a raised eyebrow. "Besides I don't like the sound of either G.U.N or Robotnik with that much power either."

Tails turned to look at the three mechanics.

"I trust you chief." Bark told him. "If you say this is something we have to do… then I'm behind you."

"And you can count me in as well." Bean added a little too quickly, something of a sadistic gleam into his eyes. "This is the kind of adventure that results in things going boom." He leaned forward. "And I like 'boom'!"

"Meh, I haven't got anything else to do." Hare muttered, before looking over at Amy. "What about you miss?"

"She's not involved in this." Sonic told him, standing up. "I'll take her back to her apartment in Central. She can get on with her life then."

Amy looked up at him. He was putting himself in danger for her she could see this. Central City would be crawling with G.U.N troops by now. The mere fact he was willing to do this struck a cord with her that resonated deeply.

"Actually, I think it might be a tad late for that." Hare commented, jabbing a finger towards the television. Everyone followed his gaze to the screen.

An official announcement by the G.U.N public relations was being made. A human in a smart military uniform was standing in front of a podium with the large 'G' of organisation on the wall behind him. His face was being constantly lit up by flashes of cameras from the press.

"This is an artists rendering of an individual we believe to be directly involved in the incident last night in Central." The man announced and an image appeared onscreen of a pencil drawing.

Amy nearly gagged at the sight of an almost perfect picture of herself.

"G.U.N intelligence has identified this person as Amy Rose, a university Student living in Central. She has been vacant from her official residence since last night. Anyone with information regarding this Girl's whereabouts please contact your local law enforcement. Information leading to apprehension of this girl and her fellow conspirators will earn a reward of 50,000 credits."

* * *

-

Prison Island was renowned as G.U.N's impregnable fortress. Even before Ragnarok it had stood out as a source of strength for whatever organisation used it. When it was first conceived, the island had been detainment facility for some of the states political prisoners that it hadn't wanted the public to know about. Anyone deemed controversial would disappear inside and any mention of them removed from mainstream knowledge.

Those locked away within its vaulted chambers never saw the light of day again.

When the G.U.N Federation took over, it was transformed into a thriving Military base. Their naval fleet, comprising of dozens of battleships and Air craft carriers sat in the bay on the islands south side. The base itself riddled the island, network of tunnels that stretched deep into the earth. From afar, it appeared to be an ordinary tropical island, the green of the rainforest upon it concealing all of the evidence of any troop presence.

Shortly after Ragnarok occurred, Doctor Robotnik began research on the various installations G.U.N had in various locations, in preparation for the inevitable confrontation.

Hacking his way into the Federations confidential data, The Doctor discovered top secret files relating to Prison Island.

The space colonisation incident that happened over fifty years ago.

The files contained a diary. Within this diary was information that brought Robotnik closer to his ultimate goal than he'd come in decades. Finally, this was what he had been searching thirty whole years for.

Without hesitation, he dispatched an expedition to Prison Island; which he himself led.

With a long stretch of atomic badlands between the Island and his own territory, the Doctor had to go around it, his small group taking over five months to make their way into Federation territory.

They moved on silent running almost the entire time to avoid radar detection, slowing sliding along the sea bed as they neared the island. Mines and other forms of detection devices slowed them down considerably but eventually they neared the island coast.

The robots attacked the G.U.N fleet head on at exactly 21:02 in the evening, distracting the personnel on the base allowing the Doctor to slip in unnoticed…

"Intruder alert, intruder alert; security breech at Gate 3!" The bases automated defences instantly went online. Lockdown doors began slamming shut throughout the entire facility. "Intruder has been located in the North Quadrant and is moving in the direction of the underground base." Dozens of solders clad in anti-projectile armour and armed with laser rifles filled up the ranks as security, Laser Hunter robots, moved in to defensive positions.

"All units prepare to engage. Emergency battle formations. Standard battle procedures initiated." As the last security door slammed shut, it was blown off its hinges by an intense volley of laser fire from behind it. The flaming metallic shards were sent flying forward to coat the corridor in molten metal. Smoke flew up into the air, a thick veil moving across to mask everything from view. "Locate and stop the intruder from entering the security area." The soldiers lined up ready to fire. "This is not a drill. Repeat; this is not a drill!" Shots rang out from the gloom's dozens of soldiers and robots falling to the ground instantly as a large bipedal machine marched forward.

A chair on machine mechanical legs, a forward glass shield protecting the pilot. Two large gun turrets either side blasting as they went.

The Doctor cackling laughter echoed out as his Egg Walker Mech moved forward, mowing down the opposition in his path.

"This is far too easy!" He laughed, directing his walker to kick a Laser Hunter out of the way.

These militaristic lapdogs were idiots. They had no idea what they had held captive in the bowls of their fortress.

With his robots distracting the defenders, The Doctor tore through the bases' interior with ease; descending past the pitifully prepared defensive measures. Their prototype robots were mere scrap metal compared to his far more advanced battle technology. Their human soldiers were even less of a challenge.

Leaving piles of molten scrap in his wake, the Doctor reached the final door to the bases innermost security chamber. This was where, according to the data, the military had entombed the project; codenamed 'Shadow'.

The door was large and over three meters thick. A blast door, capable of withstanding a direct mortar strike. His Mech hadn't the firepower to crack it open.

But then Robotnik did not need to crack it open and neither did he need the intelligence from the data to help him.

He already knew precisely what the password would be.

"M…A…R…I…A." He spoke aloud as he typed in each letter onto the dust covered console. The door shunted loudly as decades old gears began to turn, grinding away the dust and cobwebs.

One by one the metal bars holding the door in place pulled side, scrapping on the surface before vanishing into the wall on either side.

Once all three of them were out of the way, the door itself slowly lifted up.

The air beyond came hurling out, stale as the air tight seal was broken.

The Doctor flipped a switch and the light on the front of his Mech turned itself on. Marching inside Robotnik surveyed the room, studying the walls which were almost completely engulfed in wires and cables, running from a curved dome in the ceiling to a rectangular pit in the centre of the floor, the bottom far too low down to see properly. It was cold here. The Doctor's breath came out white and icy before him.

A console was placed on the edge of the abyss, old and abandoned; fallen into disrepair. It looked out of place amongst the cables. It was far more streamlined on its edges.

The doctor slid out of the walker and walked over, brushing the dust of the buttons.

"This is how they treat divine ARK technology?" He asked himself out load. "Disgraceful." More than familiar with this form of technology, the doctor began the rebooting sequence.

His robots could not keep the overwhelming Federation presence occupied forever so he hurried his work, restoring power bit by bit to the console. Suddenly it surged to life, holographic displays emitted upwards beamed in orange light.

"Ah, suspended animation, just as I thought." Robotnik proclaimed, reading the data flashing up before him.

Information displayed on the screens showed heart rate, brain waves and other recorded signs of life.

"Yes my friend, do not worry. You need sleep no more." The Doctor muttered, staring down into the pit. A kindred spirit lurked within. They both shared the same history and the same pain.

"Strange though… if the Federation wanted Project Shadow destroyed; why did they not simply kill the end result?" He voiced his thoughts out load as his fingers ran skillfully over the controls.

Perhaps the military thought they could use it in some way? Or maybe they simply hadn't known how to kill it?

Whatever the case, The Doctor thought it was in his best interests to take it off their hands.

A password was required for the reanimation process to begin

Robotnik typed in again the first name of his cousin.

Accepting the code, the data displays almost seemed to go random, slurring all over the place with millions of zeros and ones darting left and right.

Steam began venting into the room from the pit, filling the place almost in a thick fog. Slowly, a long metallic pillar with a rectangular flat top shaped like a coffin rose from the bottom of the pit until it was almost completely level with the floor. A catwalk lanced the distance between them and for a moment nothing happened.

Then the doors to the metallic coffin slowly pulled themselves open. More steam hissed out and Robotnik felt the temperature of the chamber grow considerably colder.

Slowly, a hand reached up and gripped the edge of the container for support before its main bulk heaved itself out.

Robotnik could not see the creature directly, but it was smaller than himself and thin; dozens of long quills jagged behind it. It was naked apart from a pair of torn white gloves with golden rings attached to the wrists.

The Doctor took a step forward as a pair of blood red eyes slowly opened and locked directly on him.

"I….I am Shadow." A voice, still weak from long imprisonment but holding strength rasped. Slowly the fog began to clear and the Doctor beheld the mark on the hedgehog's right shoulder, seven stars in orbit around a larger eighth.

"Yes." He stated. "I know."

That had been the moment when he had met Shadow for the first time. Weakened by so many years in suspended animation, the hedgehog had not been able to demolish Prison Island as he had desperately wanted; but there was enough energy left in him to fend off G.U.N Mechs while they made their escape.

Over time, Shadow's strength and power returned. From that point on, he was the Imperial Agent. The scourge of the Federation military.

Yet now, it seemed, there was another.

A being with abilities, traits and even appearance that seemed to match Shadow's completely. Even the mark was there, that prophesied birthmark given to the chosen one. According to folklore of the now extinct Echidna race, the mark could be used to identify a hero who was promised to their people eons ago.

It was unlikely Shadow, or even this blue newcomer was that hero seeing as how they were far too late to make any difference to that race; but still the Doctor had done research on the matter.

The book, open before him on his desk was one of the few surviving tomes from the ancient Ruins of the Garden of Babylon.

The Necronomicon…the book of life and dead.

It was a dangerous book. In fact, it was dangerous simply to have it lying open. Skimming, reading only brief extracts was safe for one whose soul had already been hardened by it.

It was frustratingly slow work yet Robotnik was not prepared to risk everything for this dark tome.

Not yet anyway.

Briefly, he wondered how his two agents were doing in Federation territory…

* * *

-

Rouge pinned herself flat against the wall, ears flat against the hard surface and lips pressed tightly together. Shadow kept her there with a simple hand on her shoulder, his cold red eyes staring into hers.

Those eyes scared her. There wasn't a hint of emotion in them, completely monotone. Yet still, as if she could sense it behind them in the soul was a burning wrath. It was hate the likes of which she had never known in her lifetime.

"Mercenary filth." The Black Hedgehog stated with a great deal of venom in his voice.

With a simply shove he pushed her, causing her to fall onto her side hard.

"Lets get one thing straight, bat, the only reason I came to fetch you was because I was ordered to. I don't trust you. The Doctor may be swayed easily but I am not. I'll be watching you." He held his hand forth and the spark of a bolt of golden lightning travelled down his arm and crackled in the space between his fingers theatrically. "One wrong move and I'll scorch your head clear off you're shoulders."

Rouge didn't dare meet his gaze. She wanted to defy him as her very personality was a rebellious one but confrontation, even subtle, could be fatal.

"Is that in any way unclear?"

"No." She replied quickly.

"Good." He strode past her to the edge of the building, overlooking the main high street of Central City. The military was still patrolling the city in the aftermath of the chaos last night. Their Mech's could still be sighted at various checkpoints here and there. "Now…do your job and find me that impostor. I'd much rather sear his head than yours."

Rouge couldn't say much for the people the Robotnik employed. From her observation thus far those in his service where either scared out of their minds or homicidal maniacs.

Pulling down her eyepiece, she turned on the mini computer. They were close enough to a communications relay to allow her to hack into G.U.N communications. Having so recently been an agent for them it was easy to break into their com links. Binary code flashed up on the small transparent screen that was poised over her right eye and skimming she read through the coded messages.

Shadow took his eyes off her and looked down at the street below them. Bustling with activity, vehicles were moving back and forth as the mid morning rush took sway.

As with most things, this world was far uglier close up than it was at a distance. From space this planet was a pure blue with a milky white overlay. There it was possible to stand for hours on end simply staring at it, never tiring of the beautiful display.

Shadow had seen past the deceitful veil. Now he beheld the secret the world's façade held back. He could see the deceit, the lies, the greed, the hate; the pollution and it all great overshadowed whatever goodness he might once have believed existed here.

"I still remember." He muttered, clenching his fists and turning his head to look up towards the sky; staring past the clouds to some unseen heaven.


	6. Chapter 6

(Comic version online at DA.)

"Ah Vector, I hate this cold!!" The young bee shivered, flapping his membrane wings in an attempt to warm himself up. Being an insect he was naturally more used to a warmer environment so here, in the far north west he was almost litterally freezing his butt off.

"Agh, stop complaining Charmy." The grisly voice of his boss told him through the ear piece inside his fighter pilots style helmet. "Just get airborne and find that Hedgehog."

The youngster shivered, shaking the falling snow off his body.

"That's easy for you to say! You're all snug in a cosy heated ship. It's just SO cold out here!!"

"Move or loss it Mister!"

It took a moment but Charmy managed to get himself airborne despite the cold. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes and flew up out of the trash strewn alley and into the winds. The faint snowfall of the morning had developed into a fully fledged blizzard.

"Not fair. I always get the bum assignments!" He muttered angrily to himself.

"Are you sure the kid'll be alright by himself Vector?" Espio asked, looking up at the crocodile. "Westopolis is a big city and even if we've narrowed it down to a district, he may not find anything." The chameleon was always the pessimist, always looking for a downside or negative aspect. Sometimes it worked to their advantage in sniffing out trouble but it also made him a difficult person to like.

"Have a little faith Espio. Charmy'll find him without any trouble." Vector stated confidently.

"I certainly hope so." Their employer said from behind them. Glancing back the two reptiles looked at the winged Commander. "After all I'm sure you'd late for you're more than generous bonus to go to waste."

Vector quickly about faced and rubbed his large handed together.

"You've got nothing to worry about Commander Okida. Haven't we delivered you the information as promised so far?"

The bat did not look too impressed.

"Nothing our own intelligence agency wouldn't have been able to find out sooner or later. If you mind me that blue hedgehog…THEN…you'll have earned your commission."

Vector started to look a little nervous. He coughed once before reasserting his confident façade.

"We'll complete the job sir, that's my personal guarantee."

Okida raised an eyebrow.

The door at the far end of the room opened and Topaz came in, saluting her commander before she delivered her report.

"We'll be passing over Westopalis city limits within the hour sir. We'll be over the target area on schedule."

Okida's personal vessel, the G.U.N service 90836 Codenamed: Thornblade, was one of the many in the air force's fleet. It was a Leviathan class cruiser with a customised fusion reactor engine that allowed it to travel at faster speeds than the others. Flying high in the blizzard the ship was almost impossible to make out from the ground.

"Is the S-Team unit ready to move out?" Okida asked, turning to face her, his wings folding around himself almost like a cloak. Topaz nodded.

"Yes sir, prototype Mech armaments ready to deploy and the pilots are being equipped as we speak."

The bat nodded once in approval.

"Very well. Have they been debriefed on the details of the Operation?"

"Not yet sir. I thought you might like to do that yourself." Topaz replied. Vector risked a glance up at the commander, expecting him to burst into anger. Strangely all Okida did was smile grimly.

"Very well. As soon as they're all ready have them assemble in the Mech bay. I'll address them there." Topaz lowered her head in a nod. "Dismissed."

-

Rouge raised the visor from her eye, a triumphant smile passing over her lips so a fang exposed itself. She had hacked the server and acquired what she wanted.

"A G.U.N unit had tracked your playmate to the city of Westopalis. An air force ship is on its way there." She stated, turning around to face Shadow. The dark hedgehog didn't look at her. "If we hurry we can beat them to him."

Shadow nodded once and grabbed her buy the arm roughly, his hand almost clamping around her wrist.

"Chaos Control!" He proclaimed and all Rouge could do was exclaim as he took her once more through that cold nothingness that existed outside of reality, sliding underneath time and space before emerging at his intended destination.

Teleportation was a strange experience. It was like being compressed into a really small space and then expanding back out upon the re-entry to normality.

As the distortion subsided, Rouge collapsed to her knees desperately trying not to loose her lunch.

Unaffected, Shadow raised his hand to shield his eyes from the unexpected snow that was thick in the air.

Grudgingly he had to give the bat some credit.

She was indeed correct. The impostor hedgehog was here. He could sense Chaos Energy in the air. It was a residual trace but it was quite recent, meaning that a Chaos Emerald was nearby. And where a Chaos Emerald was… that blue hedgehog would not be far away.

"A little warning when you're going to do that would be nice." Rouge muttered, staggering back to her feet and nearly slipping in the ankle deep snow. The two of them were standing in the middle of an empty market square. The buildings around them were almost empty as most people of the city were taking shelter during the storm.

Shadow glanced around from right to left, a thick scowl coming over his face. It would take days to search this city. The Chaos Energy trail was strong but dispersed, impossible to followed

"Where are you?" He muttered.

--

"50.000 credits would certainly pay the bills for a while." Hare commented as the news broadcast went on.

Amy almost collapsed on the table, eyes wide in utter despair as she clutched her head.

"They've turned me into a criminal!" She sobbed. "What am I supposed to do now? I can't go back to my home. I can't go back to Uni. I can't even walk in the street without the fear of someone turning me in."

"Welcome to my world." Sonic muttered, raising a hand and putting on a bleak expression.

"Don't worry girly, none of US are going to turn you in." Hare told her, looking back over his shoulder. "They'd have to offer me a whole lot more cash than that to become a government snitch."

Bark put a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"You're welcome to stay with us until we can get this mess sorted out." He told her.

Suddenly Sonic hissed and stood up sharply, clutching a hand to his shoulder.

"Sonic what's wrong?" Tails asked, looking up at him in alarm.

"Get the Chaos Emerald hidden." The blue hedgehog muttered through clenched teeth in reply

"What's wrong?" Chuck asked him. The human rose to his feet.

"I can sense him." Sonic replied. "Don't ask me how but I can sense him."

"Sense who?" Bean asked with a raised feather.

Amy was the first to catch on. She vaulted to her feet, slamming her hands down on the table.

"It's him?!" She asked looking panicked. Sonic nodded grimly.

"My mark… it's burning. I can tell it's him somehow."

"Who?" Tails asked coming up quickly.

"The Dark Hedgehog… the one I was telling you about. He's close."

"The Robotnik's agent?" Hare asked in alarm. "We've got to get the hell out of here!" Tails came up beside Sonic, keeping his face serious.

"How close is he?"

"Within a few blocks." Sonic replied, keeping his eyes on the snow ridden streets outside. "Hare's right, we have to get out of here." He risked a glance at the young fox. "If my mark is telling me he's here… then it's a safe bet his mark is telling him I'm here."

"What?"

"He's coming for me I can tell."

"You are?"

"Believe me, if you saw how pissed off he was during our fight last night you'd know." Sonic blinked once and swallowed hard. "If he follows me here, he'll take the Emerald back to Robotnik." He glanced over at the others. "And I can't put you guys in danger… not against this guy."

"What are you going to do?" Tails asked him.

"I'll lead him away." Sonic replied. "You hold up here, keep your heads down. As soon as I get back, we're going to have the move the Emerald."

Tails nodded once.

His body a blur, Sonic flew out the door; a sonic boom shaking the entire building with all the windows rattling. Two streets away, Charmy Bee was trudging his way through the snow by himself.

"Sure, send the kid out while they stay all warm and cosy." He told himself. "Jerks." He would of course never admit this to either Vector or Espio but he found that while he was alone, his courage soured to new heights.

A moment later, a blur of blue shot past him, the resulting shockwave throwing Charmy backwards until he crashed headfirst into a snow bank.

"Vector… plah!" He cried into his headset as he tried to right himself. "Vector, I saw him."

He managed to get up quickly enough to watch the blur disappearing down the street with snow flying out in its wake.

"Heading down main street and fast!"

"Charmy, you just landed just one fat pay check!" Said the voice on the other end of the line.

-

Despite the stinging pressure he could feel on his shoulder, Shadow managed a smirk.

"He's here." He stated, glancing around him as if trying to determine in which direction he should go. Suddenly, the Chaos Emerald became the last thing on his mind. The only thing right now, in this moment, that mattered to the dark hedgehog was finding that impostor and settling the score.

"Does he have the Chaos Emerald with him?" Rouge asked. Shadow shook his head.

"No and I don't care."

"The Doctor will."

Shadow paused briefly.

"You find the Emerald." He told her, looking back sharply over his shoulder. "It's close, probably within a few blocks. A professional jewel thief such as you shouldn't have any difficulty in finding it right?"

Rouge just smiled.

-

Alarm bells on the Thornblade began going off as soon as confirmation was received of their target.

Pilots for the strike team ran into the Mech bay, their helmets tucked underneath their arms. Racing up the steps they arrived at the deploying platform as their mech's were shifted on a series of pulleys into position. Technicians were busy removing the umbilical cables feeding into the humanoid machines, each one the about the size of a car. They were covered in streamlined armour, four of them painted white with red outlines and the fifth red with white outlines.

Commander Okida and Lt. Topaz stood before them on a balcony overhanging the bay and turning to him, all five pilots snapped to attention.

"You are the best pilots of your generation." The commander told them, folding his arms behind his back. "You've past every exam and every trail and graduated from your training. Now however, come's the ultimate test of your skills." The trail moved along and one by one the machines these pilots would be using were rotated to face the catwalk where they were waiting. "Your target is capable of travelling at immense speed and has thus far eluded capture by conventional methods.

That is where you come in. The target is to be subdued, preferably without injury but if you have to… shoot to wound."

All five pilots all saluted as one.

"Your target is also in a civilian area so we want as little collateral damage as possible." Okida added. "Lt. Sam 'Speed' Robinson, you have displayed the most skill and discipline in your training and so you will be commander for this mission. Success will mean a permanent position as the head of the unit."

Sam was a man in his middle twenties with short, fiery red hair and fierce blue eyes. Even amongst the other pilots he stood out, something about him striking a cord of respect with them. He snapped his healed together with a smile and held his salute.

"Now move out S-Team!" Okida stepped aside and gestured to the open cockpits of the Mech's. The pilots placed their helmets out and ascended the short stairway, climbing into the seats with the technicians still conducting the final systems checks, disconnecting the mechanical umbilical cords and moving the scaffolding away.

"This is Smith, all systems green." One of the pilots stated into the communicator inside his helmet.

"This is Trevor, all systems green." Another added and his mech flexed an arm, the fingers clenching and unclenching.

"This is Aisha, all systems green."

"Zis is Boris, all systems green, dah."

Sam smiled to himself as the last two pilots reported in. He checked his own machine. He'd piloted it many times before but only in simulation. This would be his first time he and the Mech he had dubbed 'Speed King', would be put into an actual mission. His commander wouldn't say it but he knew they were going up against the Imperial Agent, the hedgehog who could travel at high speed. What else would be the point of developing mechs and training pilots specifically for high speed pursuits?

Sam cared little for the war effort if they captured the Agent but what he did care about was the fame that would come with it.

If he accomplished this mission then he would become an instant celebrity. G.U.N would never be able to keep such news as the capture of the Agent secret for long and when it leaked out, Sam Speed would be known a hero across the entire world.

"This is Sam, all systems green." He reported, flipping a few switches. "S-Team ready to deploy."

"It's a go sir." Topaz told Okida once confirmation of the readiness of all five mech's was received. Okida nodded once.

"Deploy." He ordered simply.

Still attached to the rail, the mechs were moved one by one back towards the open Mech bay exit. The chains released their grip on the first and it dropped out into the air, the jet engine on its back blasting to life and the machine soured out into the blizzard.

The other mechs quickly followed, dropped in succession until they were all deployed. Within moments they assumed formation and were dropping down towards the city, keep in alignment with the road directly before them.

"Target last sighted heading west down Main Street." A voice in Sam's ear piece told him. "Estimate that now Target is moving into Downtown."

"Roger." Sam replied. "S-Team, move up. We're going Hedgehog hunting."

--

The painful tingling in his shoulder was growing more and more acute and Sonic could tell the doppelganger was close. The theory in the back of his head was that after their marks had reacted last night, from this point one whenever they were close, this tingling would occur. It would have been a useful warning mechanism, if it didn't help the dark hedgehog out at the same time.

Guessing that he had put enough distance between himself and the others, Sonic came to a stop directly in the centre of a snow ridden square. There was hardly anything around accept for a white haze, the snow coming in even thicker. All the shops and streets were empty. That would make it easier this time, not so many people to get in the way.

"Ok…" He muttered, his breath coming out white. "I'm here darko, so where ya at?" He took several steps back, turning his head this way and that determined not to be taken unawares.

Without warning, a flash of green light erupted from behind him.

"I'm right here." A familiar voice stated and before Sonic could react, a kick smacked him directly in the back forcing him forward to stumble into the snow. Flipping forward onto his feet again, Sonic about faced and confronted the same black and red hedgehog whom he had battle last night.

"Man you are a die hard." The blue hedgehog commented, keeping a safe distance. He didn't want to be so close given how his opponent could use energy manipulation. "Look I'm tired can't we reschedule or something?"

"No." Shadow replied flatly. "You die now." He held up a hand, sparking of golden lightning sparking down his arm. "But before I strike you down… indulge me. What name shall I carve upon your tomb stone?"

The blue hedgehog managed a thick smirk, full of attitude and smug superiority.

"The name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"And I am Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog." The dark Hedgehog replied.

"Nice… it suits you." Sonic stated. "You're the agent for Doctor Eggman's empire right?"

"Who?" Shadow asked raising an eyebrow. "Oh I see… you're referring the Doctor."

"Yeah that's the one. Looks a bit like an Egg." Shadow tried to hide a small smile and failed.

"Yes I am the one your people know as the 'Agent'." The dark hedgehog told him. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes it is." Sonic stated with a cold edge to his voice. "See my goal is collect the Chaos Emeralds to stop you're boss from using them to take over the world."

Shadow gained a smug grin.

"Ah so you do have at least one Chaos Emerald."

Sonic smacked a hand across his mouth when he realized he had said too much.

"Well I have to thank you for leading me right to it. This'll be the first Emerald we've been successful in finding." Shadow's grin widened. "You've done us a great favour."

"We?" Sonic asked. There was a brief pause when the sudden obvious truth was made clear. "You're not alone!"

Shadow chuckled lightly.

In horror Sonic realized that he had walked right into a trap. Racing out to confront Shadow, he had left Tails, Amy and the Emerald completely undefended.

About facing, Sonic made for the streets. Before he could get more than two feet, Shadow swung in front of him; arms outstretched blocking the way.

"Just where do you think you're going?" The dark hedgehog told him, grabbing him by the arm and tossing Sonic back until he collided into a snow drift. "You and I still have unfinished business."

--

Before Tails or anyone else could react, several round cylinder objects came flying through the window and accompanied by a shower of broken glass. The moment they hit the floor they expelled a thick green gas that quickly spread out over the flour, rising up to fill the entire room.

"Hey wha…" Hare started, rising to his feet. Even as he did so the muscles in his legs gave way and he collapsed, the gas taking full affect. Chuck struggled to keep himself upright but eventually he succumbed, collapsing onto the table unable to retain consciousness.

Bean and Bark followed, the duck falling first and the large polar bear collapsing on top of him.

Tails tried to cover his mouth, coughing into his hand several times before he fell to his knees.

"No…the Emerald…" That was all he managed to mutter before falling, keeping his eyes open only for a second before he was unable to hold on any longer. As soon as he was out, a dark winged shape swung in through the smashed window, acrobatically spinning into the room. A mask over her face, Rouge was protected from the affects of the airborne knockout gas.

"Like taking candy from a baby." The she-bat commented. "Only far more enjoyable." Her visor was lead her here, attuning it to the frequency the Doctor suggested.

There, sitting in a silver box on the table, was the Chaos Emerald.

"My god…" She breathed, gazing in wonder at the gemstone. "It's …its gorgeous." It was so large, so sparkly, so wonderful, and so perfect! When Robotnik had described such jewels to her, she almost didn't believe him. How could such perfect gemstones exist without her knowing. "No wonder they all want this…"

She was so captivated by the Emerald that she didn't notice the soft clinking sound as the old war hammer was removed from the wall.

Just as she was reaching for the gemstone, the weapon came down sharply knocking her hands away from the stone.

"Hands off!" Amy Rose told the bat, before knocking her back with a kick. Protecting herself from the gas, the pink hedgehog had tied a clothe around her head. Being in the apartment's kitchen when the gas bomb went off she had had time to improvise.

"Agh you bitch!" Rouge cursed. Amy put herself between the Emerald and the thief. Rouge bad a move for the gun at her side but before she could use it, Amy expertly swung the hammer around so the thin end batted the weapon away. Before Rouge could recover, the pink hedgehog came on the offensive; the warhammer driving in an upper cut that caught the bat so hard she was thrown clear across the room to smash into the table breaking it in half.

"Bring it!" Amy said almost coldly. After Sonic had saved her the least she could do would be to protect the jewel he was found of so much, regardless of whether it was a Chaos Emerald or not.

Rouge scrambled to her feet and the sprung at Amy with a flying kick, showing her own skills for martial arts. Amy was able to parry away the kick before swinging the hammer forward, catching Rouge across her face. The blow knocked off the gas mask, sending it flying.

Clutching at her mouth and nose to ward off the gass, Rouge lashed out with a kick that struck Amy's stomach. The pink hedgehog tumbled back and reaching for something to steady herself, she laid a hand upon the Emerald.

The Emerald flared to life at the touch and bolts of its power surged up her arm and into her body.

Amy cried out in alarm before she screamed as the power caused her quills to stand out on end. Her eyes were glowing brightly and shining with light.

Like a true power surge, it felt it standing only for a moment before she collapsed forward onto the floor with a faint trail of smoke rising from her quills.

The Chaos Emerald fell from her hand, rolled a short distance before coming to a stop.

Rouge tried to get up but the gas was beginning to affect her. It was completely numb, as if she had slept on it and was now a dead weight.

"Damn it!" She hissed, feeling a stiffness in her legs and wings as well. Stumbling forward as best she could, she grabbed the jewel with her one good hand.

"Doctor…come in Doctor do you read me?" She asked, speaking into the communicator in her visor.

--

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow proclaimed, sending forth another energy projectile which Sonic had to fly through the snow to avoid. As it struck the ground behind him, the explosion sent forth a shockwave that threw the blue hedgehog forward, rolling until he landed upside down in a snow drift.

Shaking the snow out of his quills, Sonic growled and vaulted back to his feet.

"I don't have time for this!" He muttered to himself

"Make time." Shadow replied, raising his hand again.

"Negative Shadow, you're not to engage." A harsh voice snapped angrily from the ring on the dark hedgehog's left wrist. "Rouge reports she has the Chaos Emerald. You're to return to Imperial territory with it immediately."

"But Doctor…" Shadow started and Sonic realized that he was hearing the voice of the dictator himself.

"That's an order!" The voice added in a tone that allowed room for no argument.

"Freeze!"

Both hedgehog's turned to look up. Searchlights shone down from overhead as mechs, each baring the G.U.N insignia, hovered above.

"Put your hands up in the air!"

"Gee would you look at the time." Before Shadow could turn his attention back to Sonic, the blue hedgehog sent a handful of snow directly into his face with the small particles of ice hitting him in the eyes. Temporarily blinded Shadow staggered forth, clutching at his face. This gave Sonic the opportunity he needed to make a run for it.

About facing, the blue hedgehog blasted forth racing back he way he had come towards the apartment.

Scrapping the ice out of his face, Shadow snarled angrily, fully prepared to charge after Sonic like the wrath of god.

The constantly hiss from the approaching Mech's brought him back to his senses and pushing a great deal of self discipline upon himself, Shadow muttered the two words that would transport him safely away.

"Chaos Control."

The pursuing pilots didn't even notice the green flash in amongst the white falling snow. Their attention was fixed completely on the blue blur racing ahead of them down main street.

Sam Speed took the lead, readying the long rang rifle his machine had attached across its left arm.

A warning shot was fired, striking the ground just ahead of their target. The hedgehog slowed a little to avoid it and then sped on, flying forward at tremendous speed. It seemed as if the friction of the air wasn't a factor.

"The four of you get head; box him in on all sides." Sam told the others in the unit. "Force him to slow down." The human smiled. "Then he's all mine."

"Roger." The other four replied as one, their machines flying forward past him in formation.

Sonic glanced back at the last second to see the Mech's soar up along either side of them, one trailing behind and another moving ahead. They formed a circle around him and their plan was laid bare. Casting a glance upward, Sonic caught sight of the fifth Mech flying above. It was aiming its rifle directly at him.

"Oh no boys, you're going to have to do better than that." The blue hedgehog stated, speeding up quickly and with this burst of speed leapt at the back of the Mech directly in front of him. Landing on the top of its head, Sonic reached forward and put his hands over the camera sending images down into the cockpit.

"Get him off me! I can't see!" The pilot yelled into his communicator, his mech struggling not to crash. It smashed into a parked car, doing a flip before smashing into the ground. Sonic jumped off at the last second, doing an acrobatic spin before smashing his foot into the camera lens on the mech trying to catch him on his right. As this one fell back, unable to travel at such speeds while blind, Sonic using the gap in the circle to make a break for it.

"Oh he's good." Sam remarked. "Even better than our intelligence reports said. But he's injured now. A bit of a shame really."

Sonic heard the shot and turned to look.

Before he could react, the projectile it him in the back. A series of metal claws latched onto him and then a discharge of electricity erupted into his body.

His body trembled at the sheer force and all his senses negated themselves.

He barely stayed on his feet for a moment before he toppled to the ground trailing smoke.

The mech's landed all around him, each one raising their rifles to lock directly onto him.

Even though he struggled to get back up, Sonic realised that now his situation was hopeless.

The fifth mech, the red one which was undoubtedly their leader, landed nearby and walked calmly up to them. The other's parted to let it through and Sonic watched as the camera on top rotated, giving the pilot a more focused image of his target.

Then he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. AS he sank into unconciousness, he heard someone say:

"This is S-Team to Commander Okida, mission accomplished. Ready for Evac."

--

"So… Sonic." The Doctor mused putting a hand to his chin. His face pushing itself into a deep frown. "I will remember that name."

But there were of course other things to consider. He turned to look at their prize, the Chaos Emerald that floated in the suspended beam of light behind him.

"Here is the start of a very long road. One Chaos Emerald, the jewels of legend. Gemstones containing the power of Chaos itself, one of the greatest of the outer gods."

"He doesn't really believe all that nonsense does he?" Rouge asked, whispering to Shadow. The dark hedgehog did not reply.

"As the blue hedgehog…" The doctor started, getting up. "I'm going after him myself.

"No!" Shadow snapped, clenching a fist. "He's mine!"

"Those are my orders." Robotnik declared. "I was prepared to let you go hunting but this has become an obsession for you. I can't afford to have you distracted, now off all times." He leaned over the desk and stared the dark hedgehog down. "Are you going to second guess me?"

There was a long pause.

Then Shadow backed down.

"As you wish Eggman." The dark hedgehog started.

Robotnik shot him a very hostile glare from behind his glasses.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, pointing a finger at him. "What did you just call me?"

Shadow hesitated, fretting over the uncharacteristic slip of the tongue as Rouge tried very hard not to giggle.

Shadow was being distracted by that blue hedgehog and at the moment, Robotnik needed his full attention on the task at hand.

A Chaos Emerald, an actual Chaos Emerald had been brought to him and Robotnik did not want to jinx his luck. Shadow had to be kept busy locating the other seven.

And if he was going to keep his mind on that task then this blue distraction had been destroyed.

"Hmm…Westopalis, the Federation's western most city." The Doctor mused to himself thoughtfully. After this incident, G.U.N would gather a large portion of its military force there in hopes of containing this 'Sonic.' A city that large would need a sizeable force in order to control it, especially with its large civilian population.

A large grin spread from ear to ear across the Doctor's face.

"Ready the 4-D squadron." He announced, pressed a button on the side of his arm rest. "It's time for a little fireworks."


End file.
